Aster and Company
by Hokuto Uchiha
Summary: A parody of "Oliver and Company" Inspired by Musical Ninja's "Aleu and Company". Aster was all alone until he met Hunter. But when he meets the Beilschmidt sibs, who will he choose? Rated T for violence and SOME cursing.
1. Once Upon a Time in New York City

**Disclaimer: **I do not own anything I am using in this story, except any OCs. That is all.

* * *

**Chapter 1: Once Upon a Time in New York City**

On a bright, sunny day, everything was perfectly normal in the city of New York. Everybody was going about his or her daily routine, be it school, work, or just plain having fun. On a street corner, several people were gathered around for something interesting.

Background singer: _**Now it's always once upon a time in New York City**_

_**It's a big old, bad old, tough old town**_

_**It's true**_

_**But beginnings are contagious there**_

_**They're always setting stages there**_

_**They're always turning pages there for you**_

What these people were gathered around turned out to be a box full of cute, little Golden Retriever puppies. On top of the box was a sign that read, _Puppies to good home $5_.

One boy named Czeslaw asked his mother, Ennis, if he could get one of the puppies. Ennis said that he could. Therefore, Czeslaw picked up the puppy he liked best and hugged it. The puppy was happy to be with his new owner. A little girl named Kanami picked up one as well and hugged her.

_**Ain't it great the way it all begins in New York City?**_

_**Find a way of making time and making friends**_

_**No one cares where you were yesterday**_

_**If they pick you out, you're on your way**_

_**To a once upon a time that never ends**_

Among the puppies was another Golden Retriever puppy named Aster. As he and his remaining brothers and sisters tried getting the attention of humans so that they might be adopted, one of them accidentally knocked Aster down and made him tumble backwards into the box. But he got right back up and ran to the humans.

_**So, Aster, don't be shy**_

_**Let's get along and get going, and try**_

_**Believing that you're the guy**_

_**They're dying to see**_

* * *

As time went by, humans took more of Aster's siblings to their new homes, and the price had been changed from five dollars to free. Finally, it was just Aster and one of his sisters. As the two were messing around in the box, a woman reached in and took the girl puppy. Aster saw this, ran to the edge of the box, and waved goodbye to his sister. Then he waited for his own human to choose him.

'_**cause a dream's no crime**_

_**Not once upon a time**_

_**Once upon a time in New York City**_

_**Now it's always once upon a time in New York City**_

* * *

As more time went by, no humans came to adopt Aster. Nevertheless, he did not give up; he waited and waited for a human to take him. There were times where he wondered why nobody wanted to take him home with them, but quickly put those questions aside and kept on hoping someone would adopt him.

* * *

One night, it was raining hard and nobody was stopping. Cars were driving fast, and people were rushing to get under cover or indoors. Aster was asleep in the box until he felt the rain, and then looked up and saw it coming down.

_**And it's hard to stay starry-eyed**_

_**When it's raining cats and dogs outside**_

_**And the rain's saying**_

"_**Now you're on your own."**_

Aster started whining and barking to try to get someone to take him in, but no one stopped for him. He saw a man named Cosmo Kramer walking by with an umbrella and tried calling out to him; unfortunately, Kramer did not seem to hear him. Instead, Kramer was somehow swept backwards by the rain, and by his own umbrella, which caused him to end up flying butt-first into a huge puddle.

"Oh, man!" Kramer said sadly as he got up and surveyed his wet pants.

Aster tried again to get the high-haired man's attention, and this time leaned a little more out of the box. However, when he did that, he was splashed by water from a drainpipe.

Aster tried to get away, but the water filled up the box and broke it. He whimpered and howled as the water towards the sewer carried him away. He would have gone right down had it not been for that piece of cardboard that he grabbed on to and used to climb back up to the sidewalk.

_**So, Aster, don't be scared**_

_**Though yesterday no one cared**_

_**They're getting your place prepared**_

_**Where you wanna be**_

Once he was back on land, Aster caught his breath and then started looking around for shelter. At one point, a car splashed him, and he ran right into an alleyway.

_**Keep your dreams alive**_

_**Dreaming is still how the strong survive**_

_**Once upon a time in New York City**_

As Aster stopped to catch his breath, he heard the sound of loud and vicious growling. He turned around and saw a pack of alley dogs come out from nowhere, ready to attack. He yelped and ran for his life, and they gave chase. He was able to lose them by crawling through a hole at the bottom of a chain link fence that was only big enough for a puppy to squeeze through.

* * *

When Aster got away from the alley dogs, he took cover on the tire of a Budweiser truck. He panted and shook as he recalled what he had just been through.

_**Keep your dreams alive**_

_**Dreaming is still how the strong survive**_

_**Once upon a time in New York City**_

Aster peeked down to see if it was safe to go, but just then, lightning flashed and scared him. The lightning flashed again, scaring the poor puppy a second time. Aster then calmed down and curled up in a ball. He decided to sleep there tonight and try again tomorrow to find someone to adopt him. After making his plan, Aster closed his eyes and went right to sleep.

_**Now it's always once upon a time in New York City**_

* * *

**Author's note: **Czeslaw and Ennis are from _Baccano!_

For those who do not know, Kramer is from _Seinfeld._

Kanami is from _S-CRY-Ed_.

In addition, finally, for those who do not know, Aster is from _Hetalia_.


	2. Enter Hunter

**Chapter 2: Enter Hunter**

The next day, Aster was still sleeping on the tire, unaware that the truck driver was getting in at that very moment. When the truck started, Aster woke with a start. The next thing he knew, he had to grab onto the tire to keep it from throwing him off. He finally jumped off and his just as the truck was leaving.

Once the truck was gone, Aster came out of hiding and looked around. Upon seeing the sidewalk, Aster could see many humans walking about. He smiled and happily trotted over to the sidewalk, hoping to find a home among these humans.

When he got to the sidewalk, Aster did his best to get people's attention. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be working. As more and more people went by, Aster noticed a young man with a boom box dancing to rap music that was playing.

Aster smiled and decided to join in. He danced along with the guy for a moment, and then the guy had to leave. The puppy was slightly disappointed that the guy didn't stop to take him home with him. That was when he noticed a man named Phoebus standing by, seemingly waiting for somebody. Aster figured that Phoebus might be a good owner for him, so he tried to get his attention.

Just then, a woman named Esmeralda showed up.

"Hi," Esmeralda said. "Sorry I'm late." She and Phoebus left, probably to go on a date.

Then a woman named Masane Amaha and her daughter, Rihoko, walked by. Rihoko saw Aster, let go of Masane's hand, and started petting the puppy. Aster thought that maybe the little girl was going to take him home, but Masane came along to get Rihoko.

"Come on, Riko, we're late," Masane said as she grabbed Rihoko's hand and pulled her away. Aster was not ready to give up and started following them. Masane saw Rihoko's pleading face. "You can play with the puppy some other time, Riko. Come on."

Rihoko gave in and went with her mother. Aster still followed anyway, not wanting to give up his chance at getting a home. Everyone waited at the crosswalk for a bit, until the light changed green. Everyone crossed, even Aster.

Crossing was Aster's mistake, because some oncoming cars almost hit him as he was crossing. Luckily, he got back to the sidewalk just in time and lay down on his back. Then he heard the sound of something being pushed, as well as someone yelling.

"Hey! Move out of the way! Can't you all see I'm pushing something here?" the voice shouted at several people on the sidewalk. "Thank you."

Aster looked up, saw a man pushing a hot dog cart, and gasped; the guy was coming right for him! So he got up and his. The hot dog man hummed a little tune as he walked by with his cart. He didn't seem to notice that he had stepped in some gum. Aster peeked out and saw him push the cart to the corner and set up.

"Come on, folks!" the man called when he was finished setting up. "Fresh hot dogs! The best in New York!"

Aster sniffed the air and caught the scent of the freshly cooked hot dogs. He licked his lips ran over to get some; he was famished!

"Hey, it's a beautiful day! Come on, folks, step right up!" Aster heard the man call out as he stepped up to the cart and sniffed the hot dogs. Then he looked up and saw the man glaring at him. The man was chubby, with black hair a few inches past his shoulders, and beady eyes. His name was Yajirobe. Yajirobe waved Aster away as he scolded him. "Hey! Get out of here, pup! Shoo!" He waved his hand in a 'shoo' manner, which caused Aster to run away. Then he resumed selling his hot dogs.

Aster did not give up, though. He walked back over to the cart to try again to get at least one hot dog.

* * *

Meanwhile, someone was walking down the street, acting cool. It was a male yellow mixed breed with a long tail and short, floppy ears. His name was Hunter. As Hunter walked down the street, a female Cocker Spaniel named Lady walked past him with her owners, Jim Dear, Darling, and their baby boy. Hunter paused and leaped on top of a car.

Lady was waiting at the crosswalk with her family, when she heard someone 'psst' at her. She turned her head around and saw Hunter chilling on the top of a nearby car.

Hunter made some kissing noises at Lady. "Hi, there."

Lady huffed at this, and then crossed the street with her family.

Hunter laughed at this, then heard yelling and looked to see Aster fighting with Yajirobe.

"Well, what do you know?" Hunter commented. "Looks like Yajirobe has some new customers. I think it's time someone taught him some manners."

With that, Hunter hopped off the car and ran towards a nearby alleyway. While he ran there, Yajirobe had Aster on his foot and was trying to shake him off, but to no avail.

* * *

"Get out of here!" Yajirobe yelled. "Go on! Shoo!" He finally forced Aster off his leg and made him roll right into a garbage can in the alley Hunter ran into; a banana peel even fell on the poor puppy's head!

Aster was just about to admit defeat and leave when he heard a new voice say, "Boy. You sure picked the wrong guy to get hot dogs from, kid."

Aster looked up and saw Hunter chilling on top of the garbage can. Aster did not know Hunter, nor did he trust him, so he backed away and snapped at the dog. "Hey, get away from me!"

"Whoa, calm down, pup," Hunter said. "I don't eat other dogs; that would make me a cannibal! In fact, I don't eat cats, either. Too much fur. I've been watching you, and I think I can help you." Hunter then hopped down and continued. "Now, what do you say we change Yajirobe's mind about sharing some of those hot dogs?"

"No way," said Aster. "I'm not going back _there _again." He got ready to leave, but Hunter stopped him.

"Come on, kid, don't be a wuss," said Hunter. "It'll be a snap. All you need are the right moves."

"Moves?" Aster asked with a tilt of his head, interested.

Hunter stood on a bucket. "Yeah. You see, kid, this city's got a beat. All you need is to feel the rhythm. And once you have that, you can do anything."

"I can?" asked Aster.

"Abstively posolutely!" said Hunter. He went over to where the hot dogs were being sold and pointed out Yajirobe, who was squeezing mustard onto one. "The man over there is known as Yajirobe, a well-known enemy of the four-legged world. All you have to do is steal some of those hot dogs and get out. Starting to feel that rhythm?"

"Well, uh…" Aster said, unsure. Just then, a construction worker working on the road used a jackhammer, making the street shake. Aster mistook this for the rhythm Hunter mentioned and smiled. "Yeah! I _do _feel it! So, when are we gonna get those hot dogs?"

"Right…now," Hunter said and smirked. Then he barked and charged at Aster.

Aster screamed, yelped, and ran away from Hunter. The chase led from the corner to the hot dog stand. Yajirobe saw this and tried to make them go away. However, Aster climbed up Yajirobe's shirt and stuck his head out of the neck hole. While Aster fought with Yajirobe, Hunter took a long link of hot dogs, plus a pack of buns, and ran away.

When Aster finally got out, he jumped onto the mustard bottle and squirted some in Yajirobe's face. Many people seemed to find it hilarious. Yajirobe picked up the mustard bottle and threw it at Aster, who was running away. But, unfortunately for the fat man, Aster crawled under a fence and the bottle hit the fence. As Aster ran through a construction site, the last thing he heard was Yajirobe shouting, "And stay away!"

* * *

After running a good distance, Aster took cover under a large pipe and panted heavily. Then he heard someone singing and got scared that it was someone who might hurt him, so he hid. When he looked to see who it was, he saw that it was Hunter, who was successful in his mission.

Hunter saw Aster. "Hey, you've really got that rhythm, kid." Then he started walking away.

Aster came out. "Uh…yeah. We're good, huh?" He followed Hunter. "So, when are we gonna eat?"

"We?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah," said Aster. "I'm starving."

"I hate to break it to you, kid, but the dynamic _duo_ is now the dynamic _uno_," said Hunter.

"What do you mean?" a confused Aster asked.

"I mean our partnership is officially null and void," said Hunter. Then he leaped onto a huge metal bar, which was being lifted up by a crane.

"Wait!" Aster called, glaring at the dog. "Wait, you're not being fair!"

Hunter looked down at Aster. "Fairs are for tourists, kid. Consider this a lesson of street savoir faire from New York's coolest quadruped. Check you later." He hopped off the bar once it was fitted onto the structure that was being built.

"Hey, wait!" Aster shouted as he chased the other dog. "I helped you get those! Dammit, half of those are mine!"

* * *

Hunter started walking, sure he ditched the Golden Retriever puppy. But to his shock, Aster reappeared in front of him, glaring and growling.

Hunter smirked. "You want 'em? Come and get 'em." He howled and started running on a bunch of cars, with Aster car-jumping behind him. "I'm warning you, kid." Then he began to sing.

Hunter: _**One minute I'm in Central Park**_

_**The next I'm on Delancey Street**_

Hunter stood in front of a billboard of Central Park, the city's park, then ran off. Aster jumped from car to car, trying to catch up to Hunter, but he landed in a convertible, right onto a man's lap. He freaked out and jumped out of the car as the man tried to grab him.

Hunter then landed on top of a cement mixer and walked on it. Aster arrived and watched him do it. Aster tried to grab some hot dog from Hunter by jumping onto the mixer, but he ended up falling off into a pool of cement below.

_**From the Bow'ry, to Saint Mark's**_

_**There's a syncopated beat**_

_**Say who, who, who, who, who**_

_**I'm streetwise**_

_**I can improvise**_

Hunter smiled, opened the hatch at the top with his foot, and slid down into the cement. As Hunter casually walked through the cement, Aster looked at his cement-covered paw in disgust. Then he watched Hunter walk away from the cement.

_**Say who, who, who, who, who**_

_**I'm street smart**_

_**I've got New York City heart**_

Hunter stopped in front of an open hydrant and started washing his feet off as he continued the song.

_**Why should I worry?**_

_**Why should I care?**_

_**I may not have a dime**_

_**But I've got street savoir faire**_

Aster got out of the cement and ran to get the hot dogs from Hunter. But Hunter lifted his back foot up and sprayed said puppy with water. Then he walked through an air blower to dry off. Aster saw this and tried following, but it was hard for him to do so, due to his small size.

_**Why should I worry?**_

_**Why should I care?**_

_**It's just new population**_

_**And I've got street savoir faire**_

Hunter shook himself dry, then turned around to see Aster all puffed up with a grimace on his face.

* * *

Later, Hunter hid under a table where a man was selling sunglasses. Aster saw the end of the hot dog link and made a run for it. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a trick, because Hunter pulled the hot dogs away at the last minute, and Aster crashed into the table and sent the glasses flying.

_**The rhythm of the city**_

_**Boy, once you get it down**_

_**Then you can own this town**_

_**You can wear the crown!**_

_**Why should I worry? Tell me**_

_**Why should I care?**_

_**I may not have a dime**_

_**Oh!**_

_**But I've got street savoir faire**_

Hunter caught a pair of sunglasses on the bridge of his nose. Then he walked through the city, looking like he was a cool dog. Two female dogs named Jenna and Perdita saw him and seemed impressed. Hunter leaped over a sign, landed on a piano, and started playing it with his tail.

_**Why should I worry?**_

_**Why should I care?**_

_**It's just new population**_

_**And I've got street savoir faire**_

At this point, Jenna and Perdita joined in.

Jenna and Perdita: _**Everything goes**_

_**Everything fits**_

Hunter grabbed a bouquet of flowers with his tail and threw it down to the girls, who smiled lovingly at him. Then Aster, who managed to climb up to an apartment, jumped onto the keyboard to try to get some hot dogs. But he missed and slid off the piano and into a tomato stand, causing an agitated Lovino Vargas to curse loudly in Italian.

Hunter: _**They love me at the Chelsea**_

_**They adore me at the Ritz!**_

_**Why should I worry?**_

_**Why should I care?**_

_**Even when I cost half a dime**_

_**I've got street savoir faire**_

After that, Hunter jumped onto a moving car and rode along. Aster saw this and followed on a moving truck. As if on cue, more dogs heard the song and joined in. Some got away from their owners and sitters, and some came out of their respective street homes. A dog walker even got pulled into the street because of this!

* * *

When Hunter deemed that the middle of the street was a good spot to stop, he leaned down and made a face at the woman driving the car he was riding on. The woman—named Yukari Tanazaki—screamed and hit the brakes of the car. Then Hunter got off, disturbing traffic, and walked along the road.

Next thing anybody knew, Hunter was leading a parade of dogs through the city. He stood on top of a fire escape and howled, which his audience copied. Then he ran off.

* * *

A family of mice saw this and howled along with the song as well. Once Hunter was sure that Aster was gone, he began making his way through an alley. But what he didn't know was that said puppy was on top of a building, hiding on the gutter.

* * *

Aster couldn't help but wonder where Hunter could be going, so he followed him. He didn't know what to expect. All he knew was that he wanted those hot dogs and would get them if it was the last thing he did.

* * *

**Author's Note: **For those who don't know:

Phoebus and Esmeralda are from _The Hunchback of Notre Dame_.

Masane and Rihoko Amaha are from _Witchblade_.

Yajirobe is from _Dragonball Z_.

Hunter is from _Road Rovers_.

Lady, Jim Dear, Darling, and Jim Dear and Darling's baby are all from _Lady and the Tramp_.

Jenna is from _Balto_.

Perdita (a.k.a. Perdy) is from _101 Dalmatians_.

Lovino Vargas is from _Hetalia_.

Yukari Tanazaki is from _Azumanga Daioh_.


	3. Meet the Gang

**Chapter 3: Meet the Gang**

While Hunter was running around the city trying to ditch Aster, back at an old boat on the docks, his friends were waiting for him. These dogs had no homes of their own, so they came to live here. They were, at the moment, doing their regular activities inside.

* * *

A Siberian Husky named Exile was watching something on an old television. A Doberman named Blitz was taking a nap with a tennis racket in his mouth, while a Collie named Colleen was also napping in a makeshift dog tent, and a Sheepdog named Shag was rolling around and playing with a ball. A brown Pit Bull named Scout—his nickname was Muzzle—danced to One Direction's song, _Live While We're Young_.

Scout continued dancing. He even jumped right on Blitz's sleeping place, which caused the Doberman to wake with a start. Scout threw a wallet that he got earlier in the day into a small chest full of other junk that the gang collected, then continued his dance.

"Muzzle!" Exile snapped, annoyed with Scout's music. "Stop that racket! I'm trying to watch this show!"

Scout glared at Exile, annoyed at him for stopping his dance. Then he went over to see what the husky could be watching that was so good that Scout was not to interrupt. Turned out it was a Russian sitcom called _The Crazy Life of Taisiya Konstantinov_. In the present scene, the main heroine, Taisiya Konstantinov—who was about thirteen or fourteen—was driving a car owned by one of her ten older brothers. Her friend Anzhelina, was in the passenger seat.

"_Wah! Taisiya, we're gonna die!" _Anzhelina shrieked, covering her eyes.

"_Will you relax?" _Taisiya said to her best friend as she swerved out of the way of an oncoming car. _"I've got this." _She continued to drive, until she heard a siren behind her. _"Oh, dammit."_ She pulled over and was scolded by the police officer.

"Oh, Taisiya, you're in Shit Fuck City now, kid," Exile said with a light chuckle. Just as Taisiya was about to try and talk her way out of having her parents called on her, Scout got in front of the screen and started asking questions.

"Hey, Eczema, what are you watching?" Scout asked. "Are those two girls gonna get in trouble? Will the driver's parents ground her? What happens?"

Exile smacked Scout away. Shut up, weird boy!"

He tried watching more of _The Crazy Life of Taisiya Konstantinov_, but Scout appeared again behind him and continued talking.

"This stuff's so stupid, Exie," said Scout. "Come on; let's watch _The Dark Night Rises_, or _Inception_! I wanna see some action!" Exile tried to smack Scout again, but the dog dodged him this time. Scout then laughed. "Gee, Eczema, you're getting slow, man."

Exile sighed in annoyance. "My name is Exile. Ex-aisle. Not Exie. Not Eczema. Exile."

No kidding," said Scout. "So, what did you bring today, _Exile_?" He put emphasis on the husky's name.

"That's none of your business, you intrusive Pit Bull!" said Exile.

Just then, Blitz came over with the tennis racket. "Look what I got!"

"Great job, Blitz," Exile said sarcastically as he scratched himself. "Now, all we need is the court and the net."

Blitz looked around the place. "You think this place is big enough?"

Scout went over to the chest. "What we need is some good, quality stuff." Then he picked up the wallet and showed it off. "Check it out."

Exile laughed. "Oh. Shredded leather?"

"Shredded what?" Scout asked, then slammed the wallet onto the floor. "What're you talking about, man? That's a Primo wallet, man!"

Exile scoffed. "Rubbish is what it is."

Scout glared at the husky and growled. "Alright, that's it, Eczema! You just insulted my pride! That means death!" Then he continued saying "Eczema!" over and over again just to annoy Exile.

As luck would have it, the screaming woke up Colleen. Colleen stretched and glared at Exile and Scout. "Cut it out, you two!"

Scout stopped teasing Exile and looked over at Colleen, who looked in the chest and shook his head at its contents. "Toris and his brothers aren't going to be too happy about this." Then she looked at Exile. "So, Exile, you got the food, right?"

Exile became embarrassed. "Well…no, actually…"

Everyone groaned in irritation at this.

"Exile, it was your turn to get the food today," said Colleen.

"Oh, man, it's newspaper burritos again," Scout complained. He was about to look for something to eat from the garbage, when he and the other dogs heard a voice.

"Calm down, guys," the voice said. "No need to get upset." All the dogs looked and saw Hunter standing by the entrance. He took out the link of hot dogs and tossed it to them. "I'd like to introduce you to your dinner: Hot dogs."

Everyone ran over to the hot dogs and cheered.

"Hot dogs! Alright, Hunter, man!" Scout said gleefully.

* * *

Meanwhile, a certain Golden Retriever puppy was sneaking onto the roof. He saw Hunter and figured this was where he was hiding. He looked around for a way to sneak in when he heard voices inside.

"_So, how'd you do it this time, Hunter?" _Aster heard Colleen ask.

Aster finally found a hole in the roof and looked down to see that Hunter had served the hot dogs to several other dogs that Aster did not recognize. He figured out that this was why Hunter would not share the hot dogs with him.

* * *

Back inside, Hunter's friends were all eating the food while Hunter told them a story.

"It was a big job," Hunter said. "Only I could have done it. Just picture New York City, a normal day like any other. The sun was shining, the traffic roaring, the hot dogs are sizzling."

"I love a story with food in it," Blitz said with a big smile.

Hunter then walked around a little and continued his story. "Enter Hunter, one cool dog. Not just out for fun, but the community. Then he made his voice sound creepy. But he's not the only one out there. Enter the opposition."

Colleen rolled her eyes at Hunter; she knew full well that Hunter was waking this part up, because he always did.

Hunter acted scary as he continued. "The greedy, ugly, psychotic monster, with razor sharp claws, and blood-dripping fangs!" The others started to get nervous at this part, unaware that the part of the ceiling that Aster was on was breaking. Hunter stepped closer towards the others, still sounding scary. "It comes at me, eyes burning! I knew my time had come! Then suddenly—"

Before Hunter could tell the next part, Aster fell from the ceiling, making a howling sound as he came down. He ended up caught in a tarp on the way down before hitting the floor with a thud. Everyone thought it was someone trying to attack them and screamed at the top of their lungs.

"Gang war! Gang war!" Scout screamed as he ran in circles.

Exile screamed his head off and ran for cover; Blitz tried to hide in a garbage can; Scout hid in a box; Shag hid under a blanket; and Hunter his behind the chair in front of the TV.

The gang all peeked out from their hiding places to see what had happened. All they saw was a tarp on the floor and nothing else.

"What is it?" Colleen asked.

Scout got curious, so he climbed out of the box and went to have a look. When he got to the tarp, he started looking around to see what could be inside. Then a paw reached out and grabbed his tail, which made him freak out and scream. "Ah! It's an alien!" He ran back to the other dogs.

Colleen went over to the tarp to see what was under there. She lifted it up and saw Aster, who looked dizzy, then looked scared as soon as he saw Colleen glaring at him. "Cool it, guys; it's just a pup."

At the sound of this, everyone got out of their hiding places with mad looks on their faces and surrounded Aster.

"How'd you find this place, pup?" Colleen asked.

Aster cowered in a corner and gulped. "I-I followed this dog"

Before Aster could say anything else, Scout jumped out of his hiding place and shouted until Colleen kicked him away with her back foot.

"He's lying! He's lying! He's lying! He's—AGH!" Scout shouted.

"Why would a little puppy like you follow a strange dog?" asked Exile.

"Yeah?" Blitz added.

Aster backed away from the gang as he explained. "I-I-I just wanted some of the hot dogs that I helped him get."

Just then, Scout was at the table, with a napkin tied around his neck and a knife and fork in his hands. He banged them on the table. "He's a spy! Come on, let's eat him! You're dead meat, puppy!"

Shag looked over at Scout and made a face like he was going to puke.

Aster looked around the place. "I know I saw him come around." Then he spotted a familiar dog. "Hey! There he is, over there!"

Everyone looked in the direction Aster was looking and saw Hunter watching TV.

Hunter turned around to his friends and Aster. "Hey, little pup. What took you so long?"

Aster was surprised at this, then heard Colleen speak to him.

"Relax, kid," Colleen said. Aster turned and looked at Colleen and saw her winking at him. Then the rest of the gang started laughing aloud; they never really wanted to hurt him after all. They were just messing with him! They all walked over to Hunter, still laughing, and began to tease him.

"What was that he said again?" Exile asked as he laughed.

Shag said something, which Scout translated. "Shag says that he thinks it was something about claws."

"Razor-sharp claws?" Blitz asked with a laugh.

"Blood-dripping pangs?" Exile said overdramatically.

Colleen smiled at Aster. "I kind of liked those burning eyes." This comment made Aster slightly blush.

Hunter simply kept his eyes on the TV, which was showing a baseball game. "Hey, keep it down, guys. The Yankees are on."

Just then, Scout, still laughing, got in front of Hunter and teased him again. "Check it out! The great thief, Hunter, had to get help from a little puppy!"

Hunter glared at Scout. "Muzzle, you'd better shut up or I'll make you shut up."

Scout danced around and continued mocking Hunter. "Come on! Let's see this big bad mutt in action!"

Hunter finally had enough of Scout's teasing, so he looked behind the Pit Bull. "Hey, Scout, look over there!"

Scout looked behind him, but saw nothing. Before he could turn back around, Hunter tackled him, and the two started fighting. As they rolled around fighting, Hunter and Scout ended up bumping into Shag, who joined in. They also forced Exile to join in, when he was only trying to avoid the fight.

Blitz saw this. "Hooray! Dog pile!" He jumped onto Hunter, Scout, Shag, and Exile.

Colleen sighed when she saw what was happening. "What a bunch of bloody immature—OOF!" Scout was knocked right into her, and she glared at the fighting dogs. "Alright, that's it!" She then joined in the fight. Aster did not want to get involved in the fight, so he ran into the small chest and hid. He watched in horror as the gang fought each other.

Suddenly, the gang heard a young male voice yell. "Hey, knock it off! Knock it off!"

Another young male voice said, "What's wrong with you guys?"

The gang stopped fighting and saw their caregivers, Toris, Eduard, and Raivis Lorinaitis, standing at the front door. Toris was about nineteen years old. He had shoulder-length brown hair and green eyes, and he wore a green coat that was probably a bit big for him. Eduard was approximately seventeen. He had short blond hair and blue eyes, and he wore glasses and a brown sweater vest over a long-sleeved shirt. And Raivis, the youngest, had light brown hair and purple eyes. He was about fifteen, and was a crybaby. He wore a red sweater that had a puppy on it.

Toris and his brothers shook in fear.

"Don't you understand?" Toris said to the dogs. "General Winter will be here any minute, and we don't have his—"

As Toris was talking, the gang noticed that he, Eduard, and Raivis had boxes of dog biscuits, pizza, and McDonald's meals in their hands and smiled. They happily ran over to the Lorinaitis brothers, which the trio noticed right away.

"No. No. No. No!" Eduard said, but the dogs tackled all three of them and licked them.

Toris, Eduard, and Raivis all laughed, while Raivis said, "Stop it. No licking. We give up!"

Aster, who was watching the whole thing, was confused at first. Then he realized what was going on; these three humans and the dogs were all a family. He figured that maybe if he showed himself to them, they would consider accepting him. However, the happy moment was short-lived due to a loud car horn outside.

"General Winter!" the Trembling Trio gasped.

Knowing that General Winter was just outside, the Trembling Trio started crawling around on the floor, looking for the small treasure chest. What had happened was, two years ago, their parents had borrowed money from General Winter (whose real name was Shura Braginski), and they had worked on paying him back. But General Winter, the impatient Russian mob leader he was, didn't want to wait, so he had Mykolas and Rasa Lorinaitis—Toris, Eduard, and Raivis' mother and father—executed by some of his hit men, leaving then seventeen-year-old Toris, fifteen-year-old Eduard, and thirteen-year-old Raivis on their own. The three brothers had run away from their home, and had been living in the old boat since. Somehow, earlier in the current year, General Winter's henchmen had found them, and so they were forced to pay back their parents' debt or die. So, there they were, trying to gather what they considered collateral so they could somehow pay back the money their parents had owed to General Winter, due to them not having the money in their hands at that very moment.

"We're coming!" Toris called.

"Yeah, we'll be right there!" said Eduard.

Shag came over with the chest and set it down, and Toris took it.

"Please, don't let us down!" Toris said. "Let's see what you've got here."

He opened the box and gasped at what he found. There was nothing in there but worthless junk! Raivis picked up the wallet, revealing some old pictures attached to it. Then he and his older brothers started crying.

"It's worthless!" Toris said. "Oh, how are we going to pay General Winter off without—"

"Tor, look, it's a puppy!" Raivis said as he and Eduard looked through the chest.

Toris looked and was about to comment. But just as he was about to, he and his brothers heard the door fly open. They turned around and saw General Winter's two dogs, Steel and Buster.

Steel was a black-and-white Husky, and Buster was a Doberman like Blitz. The two glared and growled at the Trembling Trio and their dogs, and the dogs glared back.

Toris laughed nervously. "Look who's here, everyone. Company!"

Raivis reached out a hand to the dogs. "N-Nice of you to come." When he did that, however, Buster tried to bite his hand. Luckily, he pulled it away just in time. Raivis started crying. "Tor, Ed, Buster's scary!"

Eduard put his arm around his little brother's shoulders as he followed Toris towards the door. "We were…just on our way out." The trio left the boat.

Steel and Buster watched the Lorinaitis brothers as they left to meet General Winter, then turned around to face the gang.

Steel laughed sinisterly. "Did you miss us?"

The gang did not respond, but only continued to glare at the two intruding canines.

* * *

Outside, Toris, Eduard, and Raivis walked along the boardwalk until they saw an expensive-looking black car parked just ahead of them. They recognized it as General Winter's car and felt uneasy.

Toris gulped and tried practicing what he would say to the man. "M-Mr. Braginski, I-uh…" Then he turned to his brothers. "He's gonna kill us."

Raivis shook. "Guys, I'm sc-sc-sc-scared." He looked like he was going to start bawling again.

Toris put his hand on Raivis' head and patted it. "Don't worry, Rai, it'll be okay, bro. I won't let him hurt you." Then he let go and began making his way over to the car.

Before he left, Eduard grabbed his arm. "Be careful, Toris."

Toris looked to Eduard and forced a smile. "Don't worry, Ed, I'll be fine. Stay with Rai." His smile faded as he got out of Eduard's grip and went up to the car while Eduard stayed with Raivis.

When he was close enough, Toris made his way to the side and walked towards the driver's door, which was not easy, since the car took up the whole bridge. When he finally made it to the window, the window opened up, revealing a man with platinum blond hair and mean-looking violet eyes. He had some facial hair and wore a black trench coat, and also happened to be smoking, which seemed to bother the three young people in the back of the car: his daughters, Katyusha and Natalia, and his son, Ivan. This man was Shura Braginski, also known as General Winter.

After General Winter blew some smoke in his face, Toris forced himself to smile again as he spoke. "Hello, General Winter! What a lovely evening! I was just saying the same to—"

General Winter held out his hand, cutting Toris off. "Money, Toris."

Toris gave General Winter the chest. "Actually, I have something much better than money. Some luxury items that I'm sure you'll enjoy!"

General Winter closed the window and looked through the chest as Toris gave him lots of compliments. General Winter ignored him and looked at the objects Toris had just given him. He saw nothing in there that was worth anything; he even picked up the wallet with the pictures attached, but the pictures just fell out.

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy," General Winter said with a sigh as he shook his head. Then he opened the window and shoved the chest back into Toris' hands. "I don't want your garbage, Toris!"

After General Winter shoved the chest into his hands, Toris dropped it and all the objects inside fell into the ocean. Eduard and Raivis saw the whole thing and started to get nervous. What they did not notice was that two of General Winter's henchmen, a girl named Kagome and a guy named Frank Archer, were not far behind them, ready to grab them at any moment.

"Oh, please, General Winter, be reasonable," Toris pleaded with the Russian. "We just need more time. We can get you the money."

"Dad, please, let them be," Ivan said to his father.

General Winter glared at his son, who shrank back between his sisters. "Shut the hell up, Ivan! You're going to lead this mob someday, so pay attention, idiot!" Then he opened the door and spoke to a trembling Toris. "I don't think you and your brothers grasp the reality of the situation." He then emptied his ashtray onto Toris' shoes and closed the door.

However, when General Winter had the door open, he pushed poor Toris farther off the bridge. When he closed it, Toris was starting to lose his balance. He quickly noticed this, grabbed General Winter's side mirror, and held on to keep from falling into the ocean.

"Oh, no!" Toris said frantically. "No, we _do _grasp it! This is how I grasp, look!" Then the side mirror broke off and fell into the ocean. Toris began to lose his balance as he screamed. "Accident! It was an accident!" He then started to fall, and Ivan and his sisters covered their eyes.

"Toris, no!" Eduard and Raivis screamed when they saw their brother fall.

Just before Toris fell, General Winter grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and yelled, "Toris!"

"Sorry," Toris said and smiled as best he could when he found himself face-to-face with an angry General Winter.

General Winter calmed down. "Now, I loaned your parents money, and I don't see it. Do you know what happens when I don't see my money, Toris?" Toris shook his head nervously, and General Winter explained further. "People get hurt. People like you get hurt. People like your baby brothers get hurt."

Toris' eyes widened in shock at the last part. Then he heard Eduard and Raivis scream and swiftly turned around to see a man and a young woman holding knives to his brothers' throats while holding their arms behind their backs.

"Toris!" Eduard cried.

"Toris, help!" Raivis said, tears flowing out of his eyes.

"Ed, Rai, no!" Toris cried as he went to save them. However, Kagome, who was holding Raivis, brought her knife closer to the boy's neck, so Toris had no choice but to stop where he was.

Kagome grinned sadistically. "One step closer and your precious baby brother dies."

Not wanting either one of his brothers to be hurt, Toris stood where he was and faced General Winter.

General Winter blew smoke from his cigar. "Like I said, Toris, people like you and your brothers get hurt when I don't see my money. Do I make myself clear?"

Kagome held Raivis tighter, making him scream and cry more.

"Hey, stop!" Eduard yelled at her. "You're hurting him!"

"You shut the hell up, brat!" Archer snapped and squeezed Eduard's arm to the point where Eduard winced in pain.

"Yes!" Toris cried, not wanting his brothers to be subject to Archer and Kagome anymore. "Yes! Clear as crystal!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back inside, Buster was looking around the boat, and Steel walked over to Colleen and tried to hit on her.

"You know, Colleen, I can't figure out why you'd want to live in a dump like this when you could be living it up in town with the class act like myself," Steel said.

As Steel finished his sentence, he leaned up against Colleen and gave her a lustful look. Colleen gave Steel a disgusted look that he did not seem to notice. She was getting ready to say something, but then Exile spoke up.

"Isn't it rather dangerous to use the entire English language in a single sentence, Comrade?" Exile asked.

Steel got in Exile's face. "Hey, you got something to say to me, Ruskie?"

Exile started stuttering, scared of what Steel might do to him. Scout saw this and got mad at him.

"Oh, yeah?! You guys don't scare me!" Scout yelled as he tried to attack Steel. "Come here, and I'll tear you apart!" Scout ran to attack, but Shag held him back, preventing his attack. "Let me go, Shag! I can take 'im! Let me at him! Let me at him!"

Steel simply laughed. "Go ahead. Let him go."

"Why don't you pick on someone your own size?" Blitz said, glaring at Steel.

Steel got in Blitz's face. "Like _you_, Kraut dog?"

Blitz was scared of Steel, but also hurt by what Steel called him. "Hey, that's not very nice."

Before the scene could get ugly, Hunter walked over to the Husky. "Hey, Steel, Steel. Have you lost your sense of humor?"

"No, I haven't lost my sense of humor," Steel said as he walked towards the TV. Then he kicked the TV into a wall, smashing it to pieces. Aster saw the whole thing and gulped. Steel seemed amused at what he just did. "See? I find that funny."

* * *

Back outside, Toris was pleading with General Winter to make his henchmen release Eduard and Raivis and give them more time to pay him back.

"Please!" Toris said. "We just need more time! We'll pay, I swear! Just, please, let Ed and Rai go! Please!"

Toris continued to beg, until General Winter finally said, "Three sunrises…three sunsets…three days, Toris."

Toris counted on his fingers. "Three sunrises, three sunsets, three days…three, three, and three is nine." Then he smiled and looked at General Winter. "Nine?"

"No, Toris," General Winter said as he closed his window. "Three."

Toris' smile turned into a frown, and he panicked. "Three? You mean just three days?! Oh, no! Oh, I'm having a bad day!"

As if on cue, General Winter started his car and beeped the horn. This caused Toris to scream and fall off the bridge into the water below.

"Toris!" Eduard and Raivis screamed.

General Winter opened his window and spoke to Kagome and Archer. "Come on, you two. Time to get going."

"Coming, Boss," said Archer. He let go of Eduard with a slight push and motioned for Kagome to follow him.

Kagome nodded and leaned in to whisper to a still crying and sniveling Raivis. "You just got lucky, kid. Next time, you won't be." She then pushed Raivis right into Eduard, who glared at her as she got in the car with Archer while protectively holding his little brother.

Eduard and Raivis got worried about Toris and went to check on him. They looked over the side of the bridge and were relieved to see their big brother safe and heading for the boat. They ran down to meet up with him.

* * *

Back inside, Steel heard the car horn and knew what it meant. He was just about to tell Buster that it was time to leave when he heard him calling him.

"Hey, Steel, look what I found," Buster called as he pulled Aster out from his hiding place.

"Forget it, Buster," Steel said as he got ready to leave. "We've gotta go."

Buster grinned at Aster. "I like little stray pups. I like to eat 'em."

As Buster said this, he got closer and closer to Aster. Once he was too close for the puppy's comfort, Aster bit him right on the nose, causing him to yelp in pain. Then Aster ran for his life, and Steel and Buster gave chase. They chased him until they had him backed against a wall. Just as Buster and Steel were about to attack, Hunter got in front of Aster to protect him.

"Get out of my way, Hunter!" Steel demanded.

"That's enough, Steel!" said Hunter. The others came to his aid.

The two groups stared each other down, ready to attack, until they heard the car horn. The horn got Steel's attention and remembered that General Winter was signaling them.

"Run along, Steel," Colleen said. "Your master is calling."

Steel growled and then said, "Come on, Buster." He and Buster got ready to leave. Just as they reached the stairs, Steel turned around and spoke threateningly to Hunter and his friends. "We're not finished, Hunter. You guys are gonna pay for this, starting with that puppy!"

Aster backed away in fear at Steel's words. Steel and Buster then went up the stairs and left. Scout ran up to the stairs and started yelling at them again.

"Oh yeah! You guys don't scare me! Come back here and say that to my face! COME ON, COME ON, COME ON!" Scout yelled. Then he trotted back to the others with a proud look on his face. "Those creeps should think twice before messing with us."

Hunter saw that Aster was frightened, so he went over to him. "You okay, pup?"

"Yeah," said Aster. "Oh, and call me Aster. That's my name."

"Okay, Aster," said Hunter. "Well, I'm sorry for tricking you before." He held out his paw to the puppy. "Are we cool?"

"Yeah," Aster said. He reached out his paw to slap Hunter's, but Hunter pulled his paw away at the last second and pointed back. Aster made a mental note to learn that move.

Just then, everyone saw Toris, Eduard, and Raivis enter the house. Toris was drenched from head to toe and was leaning in between Eduard and Raivis. He looked very upset about something, which worried the rest of the gang.

Toris sighed. "Three days." Everyone watched as Eduard and Raivis sat their brother down in the chair and Toris kicked off his shoes. "How are we ever going to come up with all that money?"

Eduard put his hands on Toris' shoulders. "I'm sure we'll think of something. I can work; I'm old enough—" He stopped when Toris shook his head, indicating that he didn't want Eduard working, only going to school.

The others saw how upset Toris was and went over to help him, Eduard, and Raivis. Aster was not sure what to think, or what to do. He watched as Blitz and Shag placed a blanket over Toris, and Scout put slippers on his feet.

"What's the use?" Toris asked with a sigh. "We'll never get out from under that maniac! How can we pay him in three days? Our days are numbered, and the number is three. It's hopeless."

While Toris was talking, Hunter took out two cheeseburgers and gave them to Eduard, who unwrapped them, then gave the pizza box to Raivis. Eduard put one of the burgers in Toris' mouth. Toris took a bite, removed the rest of the burger from his mouth, and started chewing his bite. Then he looked around him and saw the faces of the dogs and of his brothers.

Seeing the kindness in their eyes, Toris swallowed his bite of the burger and smiled. "Thanks, guys."

Eduard and Raivis smiled at this and hugged him. "Big brother!" The dogs, meanwhile, licked the eldest brother's face.

Toris laughed, then said, "That reminds me. I saw Buster's nose."

"Yeah, we did, too," said Raivis. "Who did that?"

Aster came into view after Hunter nudged him along. Toris picked him up.

"_You?" _Toris asked and smiled, then started laughing.

Eduard took Aster from his brother. "That took a lot of guts!"

Raivis looked pleadingly at Toris. "Tor, can we keep him? Please?"

"Hm, I don't see why not, Rai," Toris said. "We've never had a Golden Retiiever in the gang before. We could use all the help we can get! Welcome to our home, little puppy." Aster smiled at this.

The others smiled as well, then heard Toris yawning. They looked and saw him stretching. Toris let out a contented sigh. "Well, time for bed. We've got a big day tomorrow. And Ed, Rai, since it's the weekend, you can help us."

"'kay," Eduard said, and Raivis nodded in agreement. They went to their beds and got under the covers.

Everyone did as they were told and went to their usual sleeping places. Shag went up to Toris with a book in his mouth and nudged the Lithuanian-American's hand with it, asking him to read him and the others a story.

"No, no, no," Toris said tiredly. "Maybe tomorrow night, boy." Then he saw Shag's pleading eyes and heard his sad puppy noises and relented. "Oh, alright. But just one chapter tonight, then it's off to bed." Shag brightened up as he happily handed the book to Toris.

Exile brought the lamp over, Blitz turned it on, and Scout positioned it in just the right place. Finally, Toris opened the book to the right page. "Ah, here we are. Chapter Seven."

Everybody listened as Toris read aloud, "Snoopy stopped, and he rolled in a field of wildflowers. The dandelions tickled his nose 'til he laughed out loud."

As Toris read the story, Aster smiled and Shag panted, much to Raivis' chagrin. Then Toris continued reading. "And then, something caught his eye." Everybody seemed to wonder what it was, and then Toris smiled and said, "It was Thumper the rabbit! Snoopy ran towards Thumper, barking loudly."

Toris tried doing some false barks, but wasn't very good at it. Eduard, Raivis, and Exile chuckled. Toris glared and said, "Well, why don't one of _you _try it some time?" Exile barked some; his real barks were better than Toris' false ones. Toris frowned. "That's just because you're a dog." Then he continued the story. "Snoopy knew that Thumper would run from him, and that he would chase him. But Snoopy would never catch or hurt him, because Snoopy was not that kind of dog."

After a few minutes, Toris and his brothers fell asleep. Blitz turned off the light and went to sleep as well. Aster looked around for a place to sleep, then noticed that Hunter was setting up his own bed, which was a mess of cushions. After his bed was set up, Hunter got in and got ready to sleep. Aster smiled at Hunter and ran over to him, accidentally waking Colleen in the process.

Colleen watched as Aster got into Hunter's bed and curled up right next to him. Hunter woke up and saw the puppy. He smiled at Aster and wrapped his tail around him before going back to sleep himself. Colleen smiled at the scene and went right back to sleep.

* * *

**Author's Note: **For those who don't know:

Exile, Colleen, Shag, Blitz, and Scout (a.k.a. Muzzle) are from _Road Rovers_.

Toris, Eduard, Raivis, General Winter, Katyusha, Ivan, and Natalia are from _Hetalia_.

Frank Archer is from _Fullmetal Alchemist_.

Kagome is from _Inuyasha_.

Oh, and I made up the show _The Crazy Life of Taisiya Konstantinov_.


	4. Meet the Beilschmidt Sibs!

**Chapter 4: Meet the Beilschmidt Sibs: Liesel, Ludwig, and Gilbert!**

The next day, Toris drove himself, Eduard, Raivis, and the gang through the city in an old-looking bus. As Toris navigated through traffic with ease, Eduard explained the situation to the others.

"Okay, everyone, listen up," said Eduard. "We have only two more days to do or die. Hunter, keep an eye on Aster. Show him the ropes."

Hunter saluted his companion and said, "Woof!"

Just then, Toris parked the bus in an alleyway as Eduard went on. "But when you do things, remember what a wise man said: Dead men do not buy food. Now, big smiles, get out there…and fetch!"

On Eduard's cue, Toris opened the door to the bus, and the gang ran out. Then Toris drove off with his brothers, leaving a big cloud of smoke behind. The rest of the gang coughed until the smoke cleared, and then Hunter decided to sum up for everyone who still did not understand.

"Okay, everyone, you heard Ed," said Hunter. "If General Winter doesn't see some cold, hard cash, we're dead meat. Now, let's go."

"Where do we start?" asked Colleen.

Hunter smiled and answered the Collie's question. "That's easy; we'll start on Columbus Avenue. It's not far from here."

As the group reached Columbus Avenue, Aster became curious about what they did for a living. The gang did not seem like criminals, and they did not appear to have jobs. So how did they plan to make enough money to pay back General Winter?

"What kind of work do you guys do?" Aster asked.

"Investment banking, of course," Exile replied with a smile as Shag grabbed an apple from a nearby fruit cart and ate it.

"Yeah," said Scout. "Didn't you read about us in the Wall Street Journal?"

"You were in the Wall Street Journal?" asked Aster.

"_Ja," _Blitz said proudly. "We're captains of industry."

"Wow," Aster said in amazement. "Can I be one, too?"

Hunter smiled and said, "Aster, when you've got friends like us, you've got all you need.

"Really?" Aster asked. "Thanks, Hunter!"

Colleen bent down to Aster's level and said to him, "We've gotta clean you up, child, and get you some on-the-job training!" Then she walked towards the sidewalk and started to sing.

Colleen: _**Ooh, yeah!**_

_**Now listen up**_

_**You've got a lot to learn**_

_**And if you don't learn, you don't eat**_

As Colleen sang, she saw a truck coming and kept Aster out of the street as the truck went by. The truck was for a bakery. The truck hit a bump, causing a loaf of bread to fall out. The group caught it and passed it to each other, but it hit Scout and sent him flying.

_**But if you're tough**_

_**And always use your head**_

_**You'll be right at home on the street**_

The group walked across the street: Colleen in front and Aster in the very back. However, Aster was not looking where he was going and bumped into a street lamp. Hunter helped Aster to his feet, and Aster caught up to the rest of the group and continued walking like a cool pup.

_**When you've got talent, everything is free**_

_**Watch how we do things**_

_**Ooh, I guarantee**_

Soon, the rest of the gang—minus Hunter—jumped in front of traffic and started dancing through, which caused cars to stop.

Colleen, Blitz, Shag, Scout, and Exile: _**You're gonna see**_

_**How…the best survive**_

_**We make an art**_

_**Out…of staying alive**_

_**If you just do as you're told**_

_**These are streets of gold**_

Aster thought that what they did looked cool and decided that he wanted to join in. Unfortunately, the drivers of the cars did not see him and just started driving. Aster ran around, dodging cars, and then curled into a ball when he thought it was hopeless.

Just in time, Hunter flew down into traffic, grabbed Aster, and carried him to safety. Once the others saw that Aster was safe, they continued on their way. Aster saw all of the sights in the city and was amazed.

Aster continued to follow his friends down the street, acting like a cool pup, until a giant stray dog came out of nowhere and started growling at him.

_**Every boulevard…is…a miracle mile**_

_**You'll take the town…and…you'll take it with style**_

The big dog chased Aster down the street. It almost got him, but stopped when it ran into something that looked scary. It was the rest of the gang, and they looked like they were ready to attack. Upon seeing the gang, the dog screamed and ran away with its tail between its legs. As the dog fled, Aster barked at it as if he was a mad dog, which made the others laugh as they ran ahead; Aster's little bark was so adorable!

_**If you play it brave and bold**_

_**These are streets of gold**_

They ran down the street, and then suddenly, Hunter spotted something and skidded to a halt. The others wound up bumping into him as a result.

Hunter grinned. "Well, hello. What have we here?" The others looked over Hunter's shoulder and saw a limo parked in front of a red light.

"Alright!" Scout said. "A limo!" Shag said something.

What'd he say?" Aster asked with a tilt of his head.

"Shag said that he bets it has a radio that we can sell for a lot of money," Hunter translated for the Sheepdog.

Colleen smiled. Alright, Hunter, what's the plan?"

Hunter smiled as he huddled everyone together and explained. "Here's the plan: Blitz, Shag, you two give me a fender bender at the two lights. Scout, you're in charge of electronics. Colleen and I will work on the crowd. Exile…"

"I know, Comrade. My public awaits," Exile said. Since Exile was the best actor of the bunch, he always got the dramatic parts whenever they had to trick someone.

"What about me?" Aster eagerly asked. "What do I do?"

"You're with Scout," Hunter replied.

"Alright!" Scout said as he gave Aster a one-arm hug. "Let big bro Scout show you how it's done!"

Hunter smiled in approval, and then everyone got into their starting positions.

"Everybody ready?" Hunter asked. The others all nodded yes. "Okay, go!"

And with that, they all ran off to perform their jobs. Blitz and Shag looked for a place to hide and wait for the limo; Exile hid and waited for Blitz and Shag to ram it so he could make it look like he was the one who was hit; Scout and Aster hopped onto the bumper of the limo; and Hunter began rounding up enough people to watch what was going to happen.

* * *

Meanwhile, Toris, Eduard, and Raivis were casing a mother and her four children at a supply store. The family all had blond hair and green eyes, and they were looking at the paint. The mother's name was Aurelia Łukasiewicz, and her kids were Krystiana (age eighteen), Feliks (age seventeen), Renata (age nine), and Marek (also age nine). Aurelia, Feliks, and Marek all looked excited at seeing a color they liked, while Krystiana and Renata both looked annoyed, shook their heads, and said, "Oy vey" at their mother and brothers' choice of color.

"Wow, only one boy," Raivis commented on the kids. He was obviously indicating Marek, and thought Feliks was a girl. "I sort of feel bad for the kid, not having any brothers to play with."

"Uh, Rai, the other teenage kid's a boy, too," Eduard said, cocking one eyebrow at his little brother.

Raivis turned beet red. "Oh, I feel so stupid!"

"You're not stupid, Rai," Toris and Eduard said quickly. "Really."

"Okay, guys, we need to get down to business," Toris said to his brothers. He looked at them seriously.

"To defeat the Huns?" Raivis asked with a goofy grin on his face.

"No, dummy head," said Eduard.

"Guys, enough," said Toris. "Now, let's go pick that lady's purse."

* * *

Unaware that the Lorinaitis brothers were coming up right behind them, the Łukasiewicz family was looking at the paint and arguing over the color that Aurelia and the boys chose.

"Mom, when Dad said that he thought the house should be repainted, he didn't mean paint the house pink!" Krystiana said tiredly. She face palmed and slapped her forehead. "We'll look stupid with a pink house."

"Yeah, Mommy," said Renata. She looked just about as enthusiastic as her big sister. "I don't wanna be the laughingstock of the entire neighborhood."

Aurelia turned to her daughters and grinned. "Oh, Krysia, Rena, we'll, like, be the only ones who thought of having a pink house!"

"Like, yeah!" said Marek. He looked excited at the prospect of having a pink house.

"We'll totally be the talk of the whole block!" said Feliks. Toris and his brothers couldn't help but stop dead in their tracks and snicker at this. Feliks flipped his hair.

"Yeah, we'll be the talk of the block, alright," Krystiana said. "The neighbors will talk about how dumb the house will look if it's pink."

* * *

Eduard looked at his brothers. "I agree with her."

Toris and Raivis nodded their agreement. Then all three brothers stealthily went up to Aurelia's pocketbook. Toris, who was the best pickpocket out the three, stuck his hand in the pocketbook and took out the money inside. He showed the money to Eduard and Raivis.

"Wow!" Eduard whispered in amazement. "Look at that, Rai! We'll have enough to pay General Winter back for sure, and probably get ourselves a small apartment or something!"

"Yeah!" Raivis said. He said it a little too loudly, though, because Krystiana and Feliks heard him and turned around to find Toris with their mother's money. Raivis gulped. "Uh…hi…"

"What the hell are you doing with our mom's money?" Krystiana asked over Renata and Marek squabbling with each other over whether or not to paint the house pink.

"W-We're really sorry," said Toris. "We j-just need the money…to eat and…"

"And to pay back General Winter," Raivis said bluntly.

"RAIVIS!" Toris and Eduard yelled frantically. "DON'T BLURT THAT OUT, YOU NUMBSKULL!"

Raivis shrank back, tears threatening to spill. "I'm sorryyyyyy!"

Feliks looked at Toris and his brothers. "General Winter? He's a total son of a bitch." He hastily took the money from Toris. "How much do you need to pay back that guy? Like, I'll give it to you; we're rich, so we can afford it."

"What are you doing?" Krystiana whispered to her brother. "Don't get us involved! You know what the Russian Mob is like!"

"I, like, don't care!" Feliks whispered back as he handed Toris a huge amount of bills. "These people are in trouble, and I'm helping them! Didn't Mom and Dad, like, teach us to help the less fortunate, Krysia?"

Krystiana sighed in resignation. "Yeah, they did. But I don't think they meant giving money to people who owe money to General Winter."

"Well, I just gave it to them," said Feliks. He then stuck his tongue out at his sister and turned to the Lorinaitis brothers. "Like, I'm Feliks Łukasiewicz, and this idiot is my sister, Krystiana."

"I'm _not_ an idiot," Krystiana informed them. She then gestured to her mother and younger siblings. "The woman with the pink paint is our mom, Aurelia, and the bickering twins are our brother and sister, Renata and Marek."

"Nice to meet you," Toris said and smiled. "I'm Toris Lorinaitis, and these two are my little brothers, Eduard and Raivis." Then he thought things over and handed the money back to Feliks, "Thanks, Feliks, but I can't accept this. I don't want you or your family to get involved with our debt. Plus, you two are just kids, and if General Winter finds out where we got the money, he'd probably do something bad to you guys, and you might not have a future if he gets to you."

"Shit," said Krystiana.

Feliks handed Toris some money out of the bundle Toris gave back to him. "Like, at least take some money so you can eat. You're, like, my new BFF, Liet!"

"Liet?" Toris asked.

"That's what I'm gonna call you, 'kay?" Feliks asked and grinned. He flipped his hair again.

"Sure, okay," Toris said and smiled.

"I have a question," said Raivis. "Are you a boy or a girl, Feliks?"

Krystiana snickered, and Feliks turned red. "I'm a boy."

"He gets that a lot," Krystiana said through gritted teeth in an effort not to laugh at her brother's embarrassment.

* * *

Inside the limo, three people sat in the back seat. One was a six-year-old boy who was reading a letter from his parents to his siblings and caretaker. The boy had platinum blond hair and red-violet eyes, and he wore a white long-sleeved shirt and denim overalls. He had a teddy bear and a Power Rangers-themed backpack with him. His name was Gilbert Beilschmidt, the youngest child of Claus and Elise Beilschmidt.

On Gilbert's left was an eighteen-year-old boy with blond hair and blue eyes. He wore a black T-shirt, green cargo pants, and old dog tags from the Second World War. Next to him sat his navy blue backpack. His name was Ludwig Beilschmidt, and he was Gilbert's older brother and Claus and Elise's second child.

On Gilbert's right was a twenty-year-old girl with platinum blond hair and blue eyes. She was wearing a sky blue tank top, denim capris, and a headband. She had a cell phone with her that had a keypad for typing. Her name was Liesel Beilschmidt, and she was Ludwig and Gilbert's older sister, and Claus and Elise's eldest child. She was a college student and still lived at home, but she was along for the ride so Gilbert could tell her about his day at school. She and Ludwig were listening intently to their baby brother read the letter.

Driving the limo was a young man with blond hair, green eyes, and thick eyebrows. He was dressed in a _Doctor Who _T-shirt and khakis. His name was Arthur Kirkland-Jones, the Beilschmidt family's butler, and the eldest brother to Liesel's boyfriend, Alfred F. Kirkland-Jones.

Liesel, Ludwig, and Gilbert's parents had recently left town for business, leaving their children—particularly little Gilbert—in Arthur's care. However, Liesel, Ludwig, and Gilbert were hoping for their parents to be home in time for Gilbert's birthday.

"Hey, Arthur, guys, listen to this," Gilbert said excitedly. "After a little sightseeing, we left Paris by car for the con…conf…" Gilbert seemed to be struggling with reading the letter; being only six, Gilbert sometimes had a hard time reading difficult words.

"Looks like conferen—" Ludwig said, but was cut off by his baby brother.

"Don't tell me, West!" Gilbert exclaimed and swatted Ludwig's arm with very light pats. "I wanna read it myself."

"You can't even read," Ludwig retorted childishly.

"Now, Lui, be nice to Gilbo," Liesel said, trying to make peace between her brothers.

"Well, it's not my fault he can't read Dad's letter," Ludwig said.

"Ludwig Diedrich Beilschmidt!" Arthur scolded, turning his head to look at the eldest Beilschmidt brother.

Ludwig shrank back under Arthur's warning glare. "Sorry." Then he looked gently at Gilbert. "Go on, Gilbo, you can read the word."

"Okay," said a happy Gilbert. "Con…conf…I give up! West, can you tell me what this says?"

Ludwig looked at the letter, and the word Gilbert was having difficulty with. "Looks like 'conference'."

"Thanks, bro," said Gilbert. He grinned at his big brother and continued reading. "…in Rome on Wednesday." Then he handed the paper to Liesel and picked up the next one. As he read the next part in his head, Gilbert became upset. Liesel and Ludwig saw his and became concerned for him. Ludwig looked at the letter in order to see what was making Gilbert sad. Then he understood.

"Oh, God, poor Little Prussia," Ludwig said sympathetically.

"What is it?" Liesel asked. Ludwig handed her the paper. She read the letter: "Kids, I'm afraid your mother and I won't be able to make it…" Then she put the paper down, understanding why her youngest brother was so upset. "Oh, man, that's not fair. I'm so sorry, Little Prussia." She and Ludwig each put an arm around Gilbert's slumped shoulders.

"Is there anything wrong, guys?" Arthur asked out of concern for his charges. "Are your parents alright?"

"They're staying longer," Gilbert sadly answered.

"Oh, don't worry, Little Prussia, I'm sure they'll be home for your birthday," Arthur replied in an attempt to cheer Gilbert up.

"No," Gilbert moaned.

Arthur, Liesel, and Ludwig really hated seeing Gilbert like this. That was why they had agreed a few weeks earlier to throw Gilbert a birthday party, that way he would not feel alone on his birthday, even though his brother, sister, and cousins Roderich and Konrad Edelstein would be there. Ludwig, with the help of his best friends, Kiku Honda and Feliciano Vargas, had invited all of Gilbert's friends, and Liesel, Arthur, and Alfred had picked out some good party decorations. Now all that was left to do was to wait for Gilbert's birthday and surprise him!

* * *

Outside, Blitz and Shag chased the limo and then rammed into the side, causing it to skid to a halt. To everybody inside, it felt like they hit something.

* * *

"What was that?" Gilbert asked in alarm.

"It felt like we hit something," said Ludwig.

"Lui, Little Prussia, are you two alright?" Liesel asked, making sure her brothers weren't hurt.

"Yeah," both Ludwig and Gilbert responded.

"Now, don't panic, guys," Arthur said, fumbling with the hat he had on. He reached down to pick it up, but accidentally beeped the horn. Then he put his hat back on and said, "I'm going to take a look outside. I will be right back."

* * *

Outside, both Blitz and Shag were dizzy from hitting the limo with their heads. Both wobbled around, and Blitz said, "Run, Snoopy. Go find Thumper."

Exile got in front of the car and dusted the ground a little. Then he fell to the ground dramatically, making it look as though he was the one who had been hit by the car. Now he was lying on the ground on his side, his eyes closed and mouth open.

Arthur got out of the car and began making his way to the front as he moaned, "Oh, bloody hell. Why me? Today of all days."

* * *

Unknown to Arthur, Scout and Aster had just snuck past him and entered the car. Once inside, Scout sat in the driver's seat and started playing with the steering wheel.

"Check it out! Ha, ha! Beep, beep!" Scout said as he messed with the wheel. "Hey, forget Toris, Eduard, and Raivis, let's take this baby to Atlantic City!" Aster laughed at this.

* * *

Outside, Arthur made it to the front of the car and saw Exile lying in front of the car. However, from the Brit's perspective, Exile looked like a dead dog.

Arthur gasped, fell to his knees, and said, "Oh my God! What have I done?!" He did not seem to notice the huge crowd that was gathering around the scene, thanks to Hunter.

"Oh my God!" a man cried.

"How could you?" said a woman.

"You ought to be ashamed of yourself, harming that poor dog!" another woman exclaimed from the crowd.

"What's wrong with you?" asked another man.

"I-I'm sure he's just fine. Just a little stunned," Arthur said. Then he started shaking Exile and said, "Run along now, boy. Come on, shoo." But he received no response.

* * *

Back inside the limo, Scout used his teeth to chew wires in the car. Aster had no assignment, so he was unsure of what to do.

"What can I do?" Aster asked.

Scout thought about it for a second, then thought of something. "Why don't you be the lookout?"

"Okay," said Aster. "Wait, what is a lookout?"

Scout bumped his head on the car, groaned, and answered the puppy. "Just look out the window and tell us if someone's coming."

"Okay," said Aster. He climbed on top of the dashboard to keep an eye out for anyone coming.

Scout resumed his cutting, while Aster kept an eye out for trouble. Just then, Aster got a look through the window in between the front and back seats and noticed something moving. He gulped and leaned down to tell Scout.

"Scout, I think there's something back there!" Aster said quietly.

"Hold on, pup! I have only one more wire to cut!" said Scout as he got ready to gnaw the last wire.

But, Scout…ah!" Aster began to say, but slipped and turned the ignition key. The car started, shocking Scout in the process.

* * *

Outside, every one of the car's working parts went off and started making noise. Arthur heard the noise and looked up to see the car acting crazy.

"What the bloody hell is going on here?" Arthur asked. Then he looked at Exile, figuring he had something to do with this. Exile smiled at Arthur, gave him a lick, and ran away.

* * *

Hunter saw this and exclaimed, "Oh no, we're busted! Come on, let's get out of here!" Then he and the others ran for it.

As the others ran for their lives, Scout came flying out of the car and started bumping into things as if he were a pinball. Finally, he stopped bumping around and sent a wave of electricity up a street lamp, knocking the bulb out. The bulb flew out of the lamp and landed right on Blitz's head, fixing him right up.

* * *

Back in the limo, Aster's paw was caught in the wires and he was trying to free himself so he could catch up to the others.

As he cried for help, Aster heard a new voice say, "You poor little puppy. Here, let me help you." Aster looked up and saw Gilbert try unsuccessfully to reach out to untangle him. Liesel ended up being able to reach over and untangle the puppy.

"Lise, Gilbo, what's going on?" Ludwig asked. He looked and saw Gilbert watching as Liesel untangled Aster. "Oh, it's a puppy. How cute."

Arthur came running back to the car, worried for his charges' safety. He panted as he asked, Lise, Lui, Gilbo, are you guys alright?"

"Yes, Arthur, we're fine," said Liesel. She handed Aster to Gilbert, who cuddled him lovingly.

Gilbert looked at Liesel as she spoke to Arthur, then held Aster up for Arthur to see. "But he isn't."

* * *

Back outside, the gang came out from hiding in some big piles of garbage. Hunter did a head count and found there was one missing: Aster.

"Where's Aster?" Hunter asked.

Scout, now singed and electrified, coughed and said, "He must still be in the car."

"Look!" Blitz said, pointing towards the road. Everyone looked where he was pointing and saw the Beilschmidts' limo driving away.

"Oh, no," said Colleen. "Bloody hell."

Hunter glared at Scout. "You were supposed to be watching him, Scout!"

Scout coughed again. "Hey, it's hard to watch someone when you're being barbecued, man!"

"What are we going to do, Hunter?" Colleen asked, worried about Aster.

Hunter gathered everyone into a huddle. "Blitz, Exile, Scout, and I will follow the the car and track down Aster. Colleen, you and Shag get back to the Lorinaitis brothers."

The gang all nodded in agreement and split up. Hunter took Blitz, Exile, and Scout and went to track down the Beilschmidts' limo, while Colleen and Shag went to catch up to Toris, Eduard, and Raivis. Hunter was praying that they would find Aster before anything happened to him.

* * *

**Author's note: **_Ja- _Yes (German)

For those who don't know:

Feliks, Ludwig, Gilbert, Alfred, Feliciano, Kiku, and Arthur are from _Hetalia_.

Aurelia, Krystiana, Renata, Marek, Liesel, Claus, and Elise are all OCs of mine for _Hetalia_.

P.S.: I made Gilbert younger than Ludwig in this story because he looks and acts younger than LuLu. Also, I found some fanart of little brother!Prussia and big brother!Germany, and thought it was cute, and that it could work.


	5. The Beilschmidt Household

**Chapter 5: The Beilschmidt Household**

The ride in the limo was long. Aster wondered how much longer it would be before the vehicle stopped. After about fifteen minutes or so, the car finally stopped, and the door opened. Right in front of Aster's eyes was a nice-looking house in what appeared to be an affluent neighborhood. Aster figured that this house must be the Beilschmidt siblings' residence.

Gilbert held Aster in his arms and carried him while he happily bounded up the steps, his brother and sister close behind him. Liesel was holding Gilbert's backpack, while Ludwig had his own bag on his back. Arthur came behind them and expressed his concerns about bringing the puppy into the house.

"Gilbo, please, listen to me," Arthur said. "You can't just go picking up every stray animal you find off the street. Remember that Silverwing bat you brought in a couple weeks ago?" The Brit shivered. "_I _do. It was a bloody nightmare, which interfered with my _Doctor Who_, _and _nearly ruined all my dates with Orihime!"

"But Iggy-brows, look at him," said Gilbert. "He looks like he's been through so much, and he looks half-starved."

"C'mon, Iggy-brows, quit being such an ass," said Liesel.

"For the umpteenth time, don't call me Iggy-brows!" Arthur groaned.

Hunter, Blitz, Exile, and Scout arrived at the house and saw Gilbert carrying Aster inside. Scout tried to run to save Aster, only for Blitz and Exile to hold him back. Hunter decided that the only way to save Aster was with the whole team, so he had them retreat for the time being.

Once they got inside, Arthur kicked off his shoes and put them aside. "I know you're attached to him, Little Prussia, but be reasonable. After all, your parents left me responsible for you and your siblings…"

"They won't mind," Liesel said. "Really." She looked at Ludwig. "Right, Lui?"

"Ja," Ludwig replied.

"Yeah, that's right," said Gilbert. Then he hugged Aster and said, "Don't worry, puppy. We'll take care of you." Aster gave Gilbert a little lick, which made the boy laugh with glee.

Arthur sighed as the Beilschmidt siblings took Aster into the kitchen to get him something to eat. Then he turned on the TV, put it on BBC America, and went upstairs, looking concerned. "Diamond is not going to like this. Not one bit."

Arthur, of course, was talking about Diamond, another one of the Beilschmidts' dogs, who was an attention hog. She sometimes had a hard time with the other dogs in the house—two Dalmatians named Charlotte and Winter, a German Shepherd puppy named Blackie, and a Doberman puppy named Berlitz—so Arthur had a feeling she would not be happy about the Beilschmidt siblings' newest addition to the family.

* * *

Once Arthur got to Diamond's room—that's right, readers; one dog has a whole room to herself!—he turned the lights on and announced, "Rise and shine, Diamond. Your public awaits." He then left the room to go check on the Beilschmidts and wait for _Doctor Who _to come on.

As soon as Arthur left, an attractive dog arose from her bed and yawned. She was a Standard Poodle with puffy black fur and brown eyes, and she looked like she could be a show dog. No doubt, this was one of the Beilschmidts' numerous dogs, Diamond. After standing up from the bed, Diamond, still in her bed sheet, walked over to her vanity mirror. She gasped when she saw her reflection. Then she began to sing as she got her makeup out.

Diamond: _**Girl, we've got work to do**_

_**Pass me the paint and glue**_

As she sang, Diamond put on some eyeliner and shook off her bed sheet. She shook her head, then looked at her reflection and smiled this time.

_**Perfect isn't easy**_

_**But…it's…me!**_

_**When one knows the world is watching**_

_**One does what one must**_

After applying some more makeup, Diamond walked away from the mirror.

_**Some minor adjustments, darling**_

_**Not for my vanity**_

_**But for humanity**_

_**Each little step a pose**_

Diamond stopped for a moment and posed in front of a wall of her various dog show awards; she _was _a show dog, after all. However, the poodle was not paying attention and pulled a muscle.

_**See how the breeding shows**_

_**UGH!**_

_**Sometimes it's too much for even me!**_

Diamond walked over to a couch and lay down to rest for a moment. Then she looked up at a giant poster of herself, and then several pictures of male dogs.

_**But when all of the world says 'yes'**_

_**Then who am I to say 'no'?**_

She picked up a picture of a male dog named Copper and kissed it. She then put it back, got up from the couch, and walked behind the curtain. She posed again and winked.

_**Don't ask punk to strut like a showgirl**_

_**No, girl, you need a pro**_

Outside, some birds sang, and then Diamond opened the window and began singing once again.

_**Not a flea or a flaw**_

She showed her paw, which had had a manicure recently, and the birds looked love struck—they were probably male. Diamond then went inside, the birds following, to get dressed.

_**Take a peek at that paw**_

_**La-de-da-da**_

_**Perfection becomes me, ne c'est pas?**_

She went behind a wall as the birds gave her some clothes. Then she proceeded in getting dressed.

_**Unrivaled**_

_**Unruffled**_

_**I'm beauty unleashed!**_

_**Yeah!**_

_**Jaws drop**_

_**Hearts stop**_

_**So classic and classy**_

_**We're not talkin' Lassie!**_

As she sang and changed, two birds' jaws dropped, and three others fell backwards, holding their chests. Then they flew ahead and parted the curtains. Afterwards, Diamond pushed the doors open and stood on the balcony, dressed in a dog-sized jacket with faux fur trim.

As she sang a few notes, several male dogs in the neighborhood heard him and rushed right over. The dogs all joined in, and the birds got a flower to give to the Beilschmidts' poodle. This went on until she began to sing once again. At this point, several male dogs had formed a pyramid, and a Scottish terrier named Jacques climbed to the top.

_**Though they may covet my gold and bones**_

_**They're barking up the wrong tree!**_

_**You handsome dogs all over the city**_

_**I have your hearts and you have my pity**_

Diamond threw the flower down to the dogs. Jacques jumped up and caught it, only to be attacked by the other dogs and fight over the flower. Diamond watched them in slight amusement.

Then she went back inside and changed clothes again. She now wore two magenta ribbons in her hair. After donning her new look, Diamond left the room and began walking down the stairs.

_**Pretty is nice, but still, it's just pretty!**_

_**Perfect, my dears…**_

_**Is me!**_

As she descended the stairs, Diamond held the word 'me' and the birds danced. This kept up until the poodle struck a final pose, which knocked the poor birds away.

_**UGH!**_

* * *

In the kitchen, Liesel and Ludwig watched as Gilbert made some kind of food. Liesel laughed at how messy Gilbert was making the kitchen, while Ludwig shook his head, lamenting the fact that his baby brother was getting food all over the nice, sparkling clean kitchen. Blackie and Berlitz were in the kitchen as well, wagging their tails.

"Wait till you try this," Gilbert said excitedly. "I fed this to Blackie, Berlitz, Charlotte, and Winter, and they loved it!" Aster looked at Blackie and Berlitz, who nodded their heads and barked "Yeah!"

"Gilbo, explain to me why you won't let _me_ just _cook_ something for Aster," Ludwig said.

"Because _I _wanna do it," Gilbert replied. "I never get to make stuff for the doggies much."

"C'mon, Lui, just let Little Prussia make this for Aster," said Liesel.

"Fine," said Ludwig. "But I'm not helping clean this mess up."

This would have kept up, had Alfred not walked in. "Hey, Lise!" He went over to Liesel and gave her a hug and kiss.

"Hey, Al!" Liesel said gleefully, returning Alfred's affection.

"God, why don't you two get a freaking room?" Ludwig asked, rolling his eyes at his sister and her boyfriend. He had always disapproved of Alfred dating his big sister, not because of Arthur being the siblings' butler and caretaker, but because he thought Alfred was annoying. Unfortunately for him, he could not make Liesel stop seeing Alfred, because Liesel was twenty and could make her own decisions, and, therefore, did not listen to him.

"Oh, shut up, LuLu," Liesel said to her younger brother. She and Alfred watched Gilbert continue to make his concoction that was well-received by Blackie, Berlitz, Charlotte, and Winter.

Just then, Arthur walked in, wondering what was going on with his charges. He saw his little brother in the kitchen as well. "Oh, hey, Al…" Then he saw the mess. "What on Earth…? Lise, Lui, Gilbo, don't you think regular dog food would have sufficed?"

"Hey, it wasn't _my_ idea," Ludwig said.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Iggy-brows," Gilbert said to the Brit as he stirred in some bacon bits. "He'll love this."

"Gilbo'll do what he wants, biotch!" Alfred retorted, sticking his tongue out at Arthur.

Arthur ignored what Alfred said and started walking over to his brother and the Beilschmidt siblings. "Now, Gilbo, I suggest you wait until your parents—Oh, bullocks." He stepped in something, lifted his shoe up, and realized that he had stepped on an egg. Then he groaned as he wiped the egg off his shoe as Alfred and Liesel laughed their butts off. "Not funny, guys." The phone rang, and Arthur left to answer it, muttering, "That had better be Roderich the Playboy."

After Arthur left to answer the phone, Gilbert sprinkled some cheddar and mozzarella cheese on top of the food he had made for Aster and placed it in a fancy-looking bowl. "And now, for the puppy, the awesome house specialty. It's doggy food a la Prussia, made from bacon bits, cheese, mashed potatoes, green beans, and chicken and turkey!"

Aster licked his lips and began eating the food after Liesel laughed and tied a napkin around the puppy's neck. Just then, the Beilschmidt siblings heard Arthur calling them.

"Guys, it's your parents!" Arthur called.

"Yeah!" Gilbert cheered as he skipped out of the kitchen, his brother and sister following behind. "Wait till I tell 'em!" Alfred accompanied the sibs.

* * *

In the foyer, Arthur was on the phone with Liesel, Ludwig, and Gilbert's mother, Elise. As he talked with her, Angelique came down the stairs and headed for the kitchen.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Beilschmidt, everything is fine here," Arthur assured the Beilschmidts' mother.

"_How many times have I told you, call me Elise, or Ellie?" _Elise said casually.

"Oh, sorry, Ellie," said Arthur. "As I said, everything's fine. I _still _think that the Doctor and Rose should stay together." He tried to stop Diamond from going into the kitchen, but stopped when Diamond snapped at him and kept right on going to the kitchen. The poodle passed Liesel, Ludwig, Gilbert, and Alfred along the way, noticing that Ludwig was still glaring daggers at Alfred.

"_Well, then, I don't want to tell you what happens to them," _Elise replied with a sigh. Arthur looked confused, but did not ask. _"And are you sure the kids are fine? Little Prussia didn't get into any trouble, did he?"_

"No, no," Arthur said with a laugh. "Trust me, nothing is going to happen. Lise, Lui, and Little Prussia are perfectly safe with me. Plus…Lise has my brother, Alfred."

"They're gonna be so excited!" Gilbert exclaimed delightedly as he, his siblings, and Alfred came out of the kitchen. He eagerly ran to the phone.

* * *

Upon entering the kitchen, Diamond saw nothing at first. Then she noticed something on the floor, eating from her bowl.

"Another dog in my house?" Diamond said quietly. Then, a little louder, "What is the meaning of this?!" She barked two times. "Arthur! Arthur Kirkland-Jones!" Then she barked three more times, sighed, and said, "Well, I guess I'll just have to deal with this myself."

Diamond went over to Aster and looked at him. Before the puppy could get another bite of his food, she said, "Helloooo."

Aster looked uneasy when he saw Diamond. "Uh…hello."

Diamond's smile was unfriendly as she said, "I don't mean to be rude. But do you happen to know out of whose bowl you're eating?"

Aster looked and saw the name 'Diamond' written on it in some kind of fancy script. Then he looked at the other dog standing before him and said, "Yours?"

"Oh, aren't you a clever puppy?" said Diamond, faking affection as she got closer to Aster. "And do you have any idea whose home this is?"

"I…thought it was Liesel, Ludwig, and Gilbert's," Aster replied.

Diamond got closer to Aster again. "Well, it may be Liesel, Ludwig, and Gilbert's house. But everything from the doorknobs down is _**MINE!**_" This scared poor Aster, and he was wishing that the Beilschmidt siblings would come back into the kitchen. Wish granted.

"Oh, Diamond, I see you've met Aster," Gilbert said as he and his brother and sister re-entered the kitchen, Blackie, Berlitz, Charlotte, and Winter following them. He bent down and pet Aster.

"We've got great news," Liesel said with a grin as she, too, pet the puppy. Then she turned to Ludwig. "Right, Lui?"

"Ja," Ludwig replied as he picked Aster up and gave him a pat on the head. "Mom and Dad said we could keep him."

"Isn't that great?" Gilbert asked cheerfully. He took Aster from his big brother and hugged him. "I'm sure you two will be the best of friends. He's already made friends with Blackie, Berlitz, Charlotte, and Winter."

Diamond was not happy about the idea, but she grinned and dealt with it. She knew that she could not protest, no matter how much she disliked Aster. After all, she had to adjust to the four other dogs in the home.

Winter looked wearily at Diamond, then looked at her mother. "Mama, I don't like that look Diamond has on her face."

Charlotte saw what her daughter was talking about. "I know, honey."

Blackie and Berlitz looked first at Diamond, then at each other.

"I can't read Diamond's mind, Blackie, but I don't like the way she's looking at Aster," Berlitz whispered.

"Me neither," Blackie replied.

* * *

At the same time Aster was being moved into the Beilschmidt siblings' house, Colleen and Shag were waiting outside of a pawn shop for the Lorinaitis brothers, who were trying to sell something. They saw Hunter, Blitz, Exile, and Scout running towards them.

"You're back!" said Colleen. Shag asked something.

"Didn't catch that, Comrade," Exile said to the sheepdog.

"He asked, 'Where's Aster?'" Colleen translated.

"We followed him to a mansion across town," said Hunter, panting after running so fast across town. "But it would be impossible with just the four of us."

"Man, you guys should have seen this place!" said Scout. "There must've been, like, maybe twenty or thirty people living there!"

"So how bad could this place be?" asked Colleen.

"I don't know," said Hunter. "But we have to get him out."

"But what about Toris, Eduard, and Raivis?" Blitz asked, glancing inside the shop. Toris was trying to sell a watch, but it broke right in front of the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper was not amused.

Exile sighed and said, "Alas, our blessed benefactors bearing the brunt of our futile incompetence."

"English, Exie," said Scout.

"Exile, Exile, _EXILE_!" Exile shouted in Scout's face.

"Cool it!" Hunter commanded, not wanting this to turn into a fight and getting in between the two dogs.

"So, what's our plan, Hunter?" asked Colleen.

"First, we'll rescue Aster," Hunter explained. "Then we'll worry about Toris and his brothers."

"Yeah!" said Scout. "He's family. He's bloood!"

"Hear, hear!" said Blitz. Shag barked in agreement.

"Okay, here's the plan," said Hunter, gathering everyone into a huddle. He explained their plan, which he was sure was fool-proof. If he had only known what was really going on at the house, he would not be planning to take Aster from there.

* * *

**Author's note: **The Orihime Arthur mentioned earlier in the chapter is Orihime Inoue from _Bleach_. I pair these two up because they're both terrible cooks.

Diamond is just a dog I made up.

Copper is from _The Fox and the Hound_, and Jacques is from _Lady and the Tramp_.

The other character Arthur mentioned, "Roderich the Playboy", is actually Roderich Edelstein from _Hetalia_.

Blackie, Berlitz, Charlotte, and Winter are all from _Hetalia_; Charlotte and Winter are the names I gave the two Dalmatians because they didn't have names in the anime.


	6. You and Me Together

**Chapter 6: You and Me Together**

Back at the Beilschmidt residence, Liesel was in the den, getting ready for her daily piano lessons. Alfred was in the den with her, as he liked watching her play. Gilbert came in with Blackie, Berlitz, Aster, Charlotte, and Winter tailing him.

"Lise, can I watch?" Gilbert asked with a grin.

Liesel chuckled at how adorable Gilbert was being. "Sure, baby bro." Then she, Alfred, and Gilbert each took turns hugging and playing with Aster.

"_Oh, Liesel, I don't hear any practicing," _Arthur called kindly.

"_Hey, Lise, are you going to practice, or do I have to get Cousin Roddy the Playboy to come over and nag you?" _Ludwig called mockingly. He could be heard getting Diamond ready for her walk.

"_Ludwig Beilschmidt, don't threaten your sister!" _Liesel, Alfred, and Gilbert heard Arthur scolding the elder Beilschmidt brother. The front door closed as Ludwig and Diamond exited the house.

Liesel laughed at that. "Alright, Arthur." She cuddled Aster, gave him to Gilbert, and then patted her youngest brother's head. "I've gotta practice now, guys. We'll go see _Man of Steel _after I'm done, okay?"

"Okay," Gilbert said.

"Come here, Little Prussia; you can sit with me if ya want," Alfred said to the youngest Beilschmidt child.

"Thanks, Al!" Gilbert replied happily. He went over and sat with Alfred, Aster in his lap.

As Liesel began to play, she heard the plunking of some of the keys. She looked over and saw Aster playing with the piano, wagging his tail while Alfred and Gilbert laughed, and the other dogs—sans Diamond, of course—wagged their tails in approval, amusement, or both. She laughed. "Oh, you want to practice, too, huh?"

"I think he does, Lise," Alfred said with a chuckle while eating a cheeseburger that he pulled out of nowhere. He had two others as well: one for his girlfriend, and one for Gilbert.

"Where'd ya get the burgers?" Gilbert asked Alfred.

"Well, since I have wizard blood in me, I just conjured these, dude," said Alfred.

"Coolio!" Gilbert exclaimed.

"Okay, guys, I need to practice, okay?" Liesel told her boyfriend and brother.

"Sorry," Alfred and Gilbert both said sheepishly.

Liesel then started playing and singing while Aster hopped on the top of the piano and sat right in front of the eldest Beilschmidt sibling. The song was probably about Alfred, but who knows?

Liesel: _**You and me together**_

_**We'll be**_

_**Forever, you'll see**_

_**We two can be good company**_

_**You and me**_

_**Just together, we two**_

* * *

While Liesel practiced, Ludwig came in from walking Diamond and heard his sister singing. While letting Diamond off her leash, the teen shook his head and rolled his eyes, assuming that Liesel was talking about Alfred. He then walked to the kitchen, most likely to bake a cake like he always did, leaving Diamond to do whatever.

Diamond tilted her head, curious as to what was annoying her owner so much. She heard Liesel's voice floating from the den and looked in. She saw Liesel sitting at the piano, singing with her eyes on her boyfriend, while Aster wagged his tail and sat on the piano. The poodle, disgusted by the sight, scoffed at this and trotted away to "help" Ludwig in the kitchen; her kind of help meant that she would try and eat the batter right out of the bowl.

* * *

Liesel continued smiling and sang more. She pointed at Alfred, then at herself, as she sang.

Liesel: _**Together, that's you**_

_**Forever, with me**_

_**We'll always be good company**_

_**You and me**_

_**Yes, together we'll be**_

* * *

After Liesel finished her practice, she, Ludwig, Gilbert, Alfred, Blackie, Berlitz, Aster, Charlotte, and Winter all went to the park and did their favorite activities. Ludwig saw Krystiana Łukasiewicz and stared at her, until Feliks marched up to him and swatted him on the head with a stick, warning him to stay away from his sister. Liesel and Alfred hung out, each of them having a burger and soda while sharing a pack of fries that Alfred also conjured up out of nowhere, only to be forced to stop using magic to create food by the Halliwell sisters (Piper, Phoebe, and Paige), who were visiting from San Francisco. Gilbert and the dogs ran around, and Charlotte stopped Mokuba Kaiba from picking on the boy.

* * *

Afterwards, Alfred, the dogs, and the Beilschmidt siblings all rode in a boat together. Aster splashed at a leaf in the water, accidentally getting Blackie and Berlitz a little wet in the process. Alfred, Liesel, Ludwig, and Gilbert laughed at this, and Al and Lise continued rowing the boat.

* * *

After the boat ride, Gilbert ran along a park fence, tapping the bars with a stick while Blackie, Berlitz, and Aster followed. They stopped when they saw a man named Isaac Dian and his girlfriend, Miria Harvent, come out of the park and looked at them. Gilbert bowed politely to the goofy couple, while the puppies with him followed suit. Isaac and Miria smiled at Gilbert and the puppies and went to go pull the silly stunts they usually pulled.

* * *

Later, when Gilbert was caught up with everybody else, they all went to get ice cream. Gilbert shared his with Aster, who got some on his little nose. Alfred and the Beilschmidt sibs laughed as Aster licked the ice cream off.

* * *

After the ice cream, they all went to see _Man of Steel _at the Pegasus movie theater. They managed to get the dogs in by bribing all the employees. Aster smiled as he watched the events of the movie unfold while sitting in Ludwig's lap. This was the most fun the Golden Retriever puppy had ever had in his entire life.

* * *

After the movie, Alfred, Liesel, Ludwig, and Gilbert, along with the other dogs, took Aster to get some gifts for him. One was a silver bowl with his name on it, and the other was a collar and an I.D. tag with Aster's name and the Beilschmidts' address on it. When Aster looked at himself in the mirror, he smiled at his reflection, jumped into Liesel's arms and kissed her. Liesel smiled and hugged the puppy.

* * *

Later that night, Alfred had gone to bed in one of the guest rooms, and the Beilschmidt sibs all began changing in their pajamas in their respective rooms to get ready for bed. Charlotte and Winter were in Liesel's room, Blackie and Berlitz were in Ludwig's room, and Aster was in Gilbert's room, sitting on Gilbert's bed, waiting for the boy to hop into bed. This time, Gilbert sang Liesel's song from earlier, having it stuck in his head.

Gilbert: _**You and me together**_

_**We'll be**_

_**Forever, you'll see**_

_**We'll always be good company**_

_**You and me**_

_**Just wait and see**_

After finishing singing, Gilbert got into bed and picked up his teddy bear. Then he pet Aster on the head and got under the covers.

"Good night, Aster," Gilbert whispered before falling asleep, Prussia the bear under his arm.

As Aster fell asleep, he heard _Doctor Who _coming from the living room. As he closed his eyes, he felt happy, even in his dreams.

* * *

**Author's Note: **Yes, Alfred has some wizard in him. He _is _Arthur's brother, after all. And yes, Feliks strikes again XD

The Halliwell sisters are from _Charmed_.

Mokuba Kaiba is from _Yu-Gi-Oh!_

Isaac and Miria are from _Baccano!_


	7. Close Encounters of the Drunk Kind

**Author's Note: **Hey, everybody. This is a side chapter I decided to put in this story; I couldn't get this image out of my head, so…

**Disclaimer: **I don't own _Rocky Road to Dublin_, _Doctor Who_, _Twilight_, or _The Hunger Games_. They belong to their respective creators. That is all.

* * *

**Chapter 7: Aster and the Lorinaitis Brothers' Separate Encounters with Drunk People**

_At the Beilschmidt residence…_

Arthur, Matthew (Alfred's older brother by one year), Alfred, Peter (Alfred's younger brother, who was thirteen), Liesel, Ludwig, and Gilbert, along with the dogs, were watching _Doctor Who_ in the afternoon. Since it was a Saturday, the Beilschmidt sibs were watching all the episodes they recorded over the week. Liesel was starting to get uncomfortable, seeing Arthur drinking beer during the show. It was the episode where the Doctor parted ways with Martha; said episode was almost over.

Arthur was in tears while watching TV. "NOOOOOOOO! NO, DOCTOR, YOU CAN'T LET MARTHA LEAVE YOUUUUUUUU! NOOOOOOOO! WHYYYYYYYY?!" His words were slurred, so he was clearly drunk.

"Iggy, calm down, bro," Matthew said, but was obviously unheard by the crying Brit. He sighed. "Never mind."

"Who are you?" Kumajirou, Matthew's pet polar bear, asked.

Matthew hung his head. "I'm Matthew."

Ludwig looked towards Arthur, who was now slumped over the coffee table. "Oh no."

"Hey…" Arthur said to his brothers, a beer can still in his hand. "Am I Catholic…or Protestant? God, I don't know…" A confused Aster tilted his head and looked from Arthur to the others.

Gilbert looked at his new puppy and smiled, then explained to him why Arthur was acting the way he was. "Oh, it's okay, Aster. Iggy-brows always gets like this when he starts drinking."

"Yeah," Alfred and Peter agreed.

"You guys don't know me!" Arthur exclaimed. "I'm from the United Bloody Kingdom, and I can held my locker better than you any day!"

"Calm down, Arthur!" Gilbert pleaded with his butler.

"Shut up!" Arthur said back, then pointed at each of the Beilschmidt siblings, starting with Liesel. "Hey, Liesel, I heard the only reason your name is Liesel is because your parents fought over your name! And Ludwig! The only reason you're named that ridiculous name is because your mother was still under heavy medication from giving birth to you!"

"Wait, what?!" Ludwig asked.

Then Arthur rounded on Gilbert. "And Gilbert, you're only named Gilbert because, like your sister, your mum and dad fought over your name until you started crying, then agreed on Gilbert because you laughed when they said it!"

"Is that true?" Gilbert asked his brother and sister.

"No, no, it's not," Liesel and Ludwig both said quickly.

Arthur then went on a tearful rant. "All your names are dumb, they're really stupid, I think your names are total bullocks!"

Alfred put Arthur under a comforter and picked him up as easily as one would pick up a teddy bear. "Okay, bro, come on. You're going to bed."

"Alfred Fucking Jones! Put me down, this minute, you bloody Yankee!" Arthur yelled indignantly from underneath the comforter. "Put me down or you will suffer the consequences! This is not dignified, put me down! AAAAAAAAGH!" His yells disappeared when Alfred carried him upstairs, to his room.

"Lise, did Mom and Dad name me Ludwig because Mom was still under heavy medication when I was born?" Ludwig asked.

"I don't know; I was only one and a half when you were born," Liesel replied.

Alfred then came down from Arthur's room, a look of triumph on his face. "The drunk's asleep. Let's keep watching _Doctor Who_."

"Yeah!" everyone cheered, including the dogs and Kumajirou.

* * *

_Meanwhile, somewhere in New York City…_

Toris and his brothers were walking around New York, trying to think of ways to pay back General Winter before their deadline.

"What are we gonna do?" Raivis asked, almost crying.

"Don't cry, Rai; we'll think of _something_," Toris assured his little brother.

Just then, Feliks showed up. He looked a little stoned. "Like, hey, Liet, whazzuuuuup?"

"Whazzuuuuuup?" Eduard asked.

"Whazzuuuuuup?" Raivis said, joining in.

"Uh, hey, Feliks," Toris replied, rolling his eyes at Eduard and Raivis. "What's up?"

"I'm, like, going to the mall," Feliks said cheerfully. Then he grabbed the Lorinaitis brothers and made a beeline for a bus stop nearby. "And you guys are totally coming with me!"

"Wait, Feliks! We can't!" said Toris. "General Winter's gonna be pissed if we don't give him the money our parents owed him!"

"Screw that Russian old fart!" said Feliks. He and the others boarded the bus, then sat down. He took a look at Toris and his brothers and took out three joints. "You three look totally uptight. Like, here, try this stuff." He gave the joints to his buddies.

"Uh, isn't pot illegal in this state?" Raivis asked.

"Yeah, I don't want this going on my record," said Eduard.

"Oh, don't be such babies!" Feliks said back "Just try it; my cousin Zofia shipped this all the way from Colorado for me. She said it makes you relax."

"Uh…alright," Toris said. He and his brothers smoked their joints and immediately felt themselves going into a sort of stoner stupor.

"Hey, what's in this stuff?" Eduard asked.

"Oh, just some stuff that Zofia put in," Feliks replied casually. "It gets you a little stoned, don't worry, bra."

"I'm not a bra; I'm a guy!" Eduard said lazily.

Just then, a middle-aged guy named Haymitch Abernathy got up from his seat, dancing and holding two cans of Foster's beer.

"Oh, Haymitch's, like, gonna sing again," Feliks observed. Indeed, Haymitch started singing. Toris, Eduard, and Raivis just looked on in confusion. After Haymitch started singing, Feliks and the Lorinaitis brothers, being already a little stoned, started singing as well, except they sang a song about Haymitch.

Haymitch: _**In the merry month of May, From my home I started,  
Left the girls of Tuam, Nearly broken hearted,  
Saluted father dear, Kissed my darlin' mother,  
Drank a pint of beer, My grief and tears to smother,  
Then off to reap the corn, And leave where I was born,  
I cut a stout blackthorn, To banish ghost and goblin,  
In a brand new pair of brogues, I rattled o'er the bogs,  
And frightened all the dogs, On the rocky road to Dublin.**_

**_One, two, three, four five_**  
**_Hunt the hare and turn her_**  
**_Down the rocky road_**  
**_And all the ways to Dublin,_**  
**_Whack-fol-lol-de-ra._**

Feliks, Toris, Eduard, and Raivis: _**Haymitch on the bus is drunk, drunk, drunk**_

_**Drunk, drunk, drunk**_

_**Drunk, drunk, drunk**_

_**Oh Haymitch on the bus is drunk, drunk, drunk**_

_**All through New York**_

Haymitch: _**In Mullingar that night, I rested limbs so weary,  
Started by daylight, Next mornin' light and airy,  
Took a drop of the pure, To keep my heart from sinkin',  
That's an Irishman's cure, Whene'er he's on for drinking.  
To see the lasses smile, Laughing all the while,  
At my curious style, 'Twould set your heart a-bubblin'.  
They ax'd if I was hired, The wages I required,  
Till I was almost tired, Of the rocky road to Dublin.**_

_**One, two, three, four five  
Hunt the hare and turn her  
Down the rocky road  
And all the ways to Dublin,  
Whack-fol-lol-de-ra.**_

_**In Dublin next arrived, I thought it such a pity,**_  
_**To be so soon deprived, A view of that fine city.**_  
_**Then I took a stroll, All among the quality,**_  
_**My bundle it was stole, In a neat locality;**_  
_**Something crossed my mind, Then I looked behind;**_  
_**No bundle could I find, Upon my stick a wobblin'.**_  
_**Enquirin' for the rogue, They said my Connacht brogue,**_  
_**Wasn't much in vogue, On the rocky road to Dublin.**_

_**One, two, three, four five,  
Hunt the hare—**_GAH!

Before Haymitch could finish his song, however, an eighteen-year-old boy named Gale Hawthorne yelled and jumped on top of him. Gale started strangling Haymitch.

"Gale, stop!" said a sixteen-year-old girl named Katniss Everdeen. "You're killing him!" She tried pulling Gale off Haymitch, but it didn't work. "Peeta, help me here!"

Peeta Mellark, Katniss' boyfriend, came to Katniss' aid. The sixteen-year-old baker helped pull Gale off Haymitch. The bus stopped, and the bus driver kicked Haymitch and Gale off for disturbing everyone on the bus.

* * *

"Thanks a lot, Haymitch!" Gale said sarcastically. "Now I can't sit next to Catnip!" He looked at the retreating bus, then saw Peeta with his arm around Katniss, grinning at him. Gale growled under his breath, turned around, and punched Haymitch in the face.

* * *

Back on the bus, Toris and his brothers turned to Feliks.

"Shouldn't someone have stopped the fight?" Toris asked.

"Like, nah," Feliks said. "This happens all the time when those two are on the bus. I shit you not." He brightened when he saw his destination. "We're here! Come on, guys!" He and the Lorinaitis brothers exited the bus and went into the mall. Little did they know they were being followed.

"Guys, this is the mall I was talking about," Feliks said. "Ever been here before?"

"No," Toris replied.

"Wow! New York City's got a big, shiny cave!" Raivis exclaimed in awe.

Eduard laughed. "You've been rewatching _George of the Jungle _again, haven't you?"

"Yeah," Raivis said sheepishly.

* * *

Kagome, wearing a Team Edward T-shirt with Edward Cullen's picture on it, and Team Edward short shorts, was pretending to be immersed in _Breaking Dawn_ while, in reality, keeping a close eye on the Lorinaitis brothers. She looked jealous when she saw Toris with Feliks, as she wanted to make Toris hers, just to have a guy hanging off her arm.

'_That…that guy-stealing little…biotch!' _Kagome thought as she saw Feliks pulling Toris' arm and dragging him to the food court. _'How DARE she steal MY Toris?!' _What she didn't know was that Feliks was a boy.

* * *

In the food court, Toris, Feliks, Eduard, and Raivis ate a bunch of random things at their booth…until they all puked due to having eaten too much. Kagome saw this and snickered at the sight.

After eating, Feliks took Toris and his brothers to the Gap, where they bought a bunch of clothes, and Feliks used the credit card his parents gave him for emergencies.

"Where did you get a credit card?" Toris asked his new friend. "You're what…seventeen."

"Oh, my parents, like gave it to me for emergencies," Feliks explained.

"And this qualifies as an emergency?" Raivis asked.

"Totally!" Feliks replied as they went into GameStop and browsed through some video games.

Toris looked behind him after seeing a flash and saw Kagome in the store. She was coming right towards them, and was holding a digital camera! He grabbed Feliks' arm and steered the teen towards another part of the store, ushering Eduard and a whining Raivis along with him. "Come on, let's go."

"Like, what the heck?" Feliks asked in surprise.

"Tor!" Raivis groaned. "I was looking at those!"

"You can look at video games later, Rai!" Toris said firmly. "Someone we don't like is following us right now!"

"You mean Kagome, don't you?" Eduard asked.

"Kago-who?" Feliks asked.

"Kagome Higurashi," Toris explained. "One of General Winter's minions. She's also obsessed with me, keeps trying to ask me out on dates, when she knows I don't like her at all."

"Yeesh," Feliks said with a shudder.

"Uh…Tor…" Eduard said, pulling at Toris' jacket sleeve.

"What's wrong, Ed?" asked Toris. He turned where Eduard was pointing and saw, to his dismay, Kagome, standing there and looking right at Feliks and the Lorinaitis brothers. He gulped. "K-Kagome…what are you doing here?"

Kagome said nothing to Toris, but just walked right up to Feliks. "Team Edward or Team Jacob?"

"Uh, neither," Feliks replied, making a gagging noise like he was going to throw up again. "Twilight's, like, totally yucky! And the characters are so one-dimensional and booooooriiiing!"

"You tell her, Feliks!" Eduard and Raivis said cheerfully, while Toris sighed.

What Feliks said about _Twilight _made Kagome fly into a rage. "YOU! How dare you say that about _my _Eddie C?! About my HUSBAND! HOW DARE YOU?!" She lunged at Feliks, knocked him down before he could even move away from her, and started strangling him. "You little…!"

"Get off him!" Toris yelled, using Israeli martial arts on Kagome, forcing her to get off his friend. "Leave Feliks alone; he's allowed to dislike _Twilight _if that's his opinion!"

"Stop!" Eduard shouted at Kagome as he buried Raivis' face in his shirt, preventing him from looking at what was going on. "You're going to kill him!"

Kagome stood up, brushed herself off, and calmed down. "I was also tailing you guys. Just wanted to make sure you were making good on your deal with the boss." Toris glared at her as he helped Feliks up.

"You could've killed Feliks, you bitch!" Toris hissed at the _Twilight_-loving girl while protectively holding his buddy.

"Whatever," said Kagome. She stepped closer to Toris, who kept on staring her down. "I saw you hanging out with Pretty Girl here."

"I'm a BOY!" Feliks snapped with a roll of his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," said Kagome. She inched closer to Toris and spoke quietly to him. "You better make good on paying General Winter back, or else something _bad _might happen to your little friend here."

Toris gulped. "Y-You wouldn't—"

"_I _wouldn't hurt Pretty Boy myself," Kagome said. "But the boss _will_." She backed away from Toris and spoke again, while Toris shuddered and stood in front of his friend and brothers. "Keep that in mind, Toris." Then she kissed him and left. "Bye."

Toris looked like he was going to puke. "Blech! Ewwww, she kissed me! UGH! I have Kagome germs! AAAAAGGGGGHHHH!"

"Here, Liet, take this!" Feliks said urgently. He gave his friend a bottle of Coca-Cola, which Toris gratefully gulped down to the last drop.

"Thanks, Feliks," Toris said after downing the bottle of soda. "I thought I was a goner."

"Like, what's that girl's problem?" Feliks asked as he and the Lorinaitis brothers left the mall.

"She's evil," Raivis replied. "And she has a severe jealousy problem whenever Toris talks to other girls besides her. I don't know why; Toris doesn't even like her."

"Sorry she attacked you like that," Toris said.

"Like, it's alright; I'm used to seeing it happen at school," Feliks said nonchalantly and shrugged. "Happens all the time." Toris, Eduard, and Raivis shivered as they got on the bus and wondered how Feliks could stand being around that.

* * *

Later, Feliks and the Lorinaitis brothers got off the bus and got ready to go their separate ways for the evening.

"Like, bye, guys," Feliks said and waved as he started towards his house. "See ya soon."

"Bye, and thanks for taking us to the mall," Toris replied with a grin. He and his brothers happily went home after one day of, for once, not having to do General Winter's dirty work.

* * *

Meanwhile, somewhere else in the city, Kagome walked through the door and faced her boss.

"Kagome," General Winter said, putting down the paper he was reading.

"General Winter," Kagome replied. "I followed Toris and his brothers like you said." She got out a laptop, plugged in the camera she had with her, and showed her boss the pictures she took. "Look. The Lorinaitis brothers have a new friend."

"She's pretty," Frank Archer commented.

"Uh, believe it or not, Archer, that's a boy," said Kagome.

"What?!" Archer asked in surprise.

"Ignacy Łukasiewicz's son?" General Winter said.

"Who?" Kagome asked, her head tilted.

"Idiot girl," General Winter muttered. Then he spoke louder. "Ignacy Łukasiewicz, the Polish diplomat. He's got four kids, and who you saw at the mall was his eldest son, Feliks."

"Uh, okay," said Kagome. "And that means what to us?"

"If Toris doesn't make good on his debt, then we can probably use little Feliks here to _make _Toris pay," said General Winter.

"Ohhhhh," said Kagome. Then she saw Natalia coming in. "Hey, Natalia, Team Edward or Team Jacob?"

"Neither!" Natalia said, clearly disturbed by _Twilight_ She punched Kagome's lights out.

General Winter shook his head. "Kids."

* * *

_At the Beilschmidt residence…_

Arthur was shaking underneath his comforter after sobering up from his drunken tirade. _"Why won't the lights shut off? Somebody please kill me. I promise I'll never drink again."_

"Dude can party!" Alfred said to Francois Bonnefoy, Gilbert's friend, while the others looked on. Orihime Inoue, Arthur's girlfriend, was sitting by Arthur's side and gently rubbing his back to calm him down.

"_Quel idiot," _Francois commented about Alfred.

* * *

**Author's Note: **_Quel idiot_- What an idiot (French)


End file.
